FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 RAMSEY SAYS HE=S INTENT SEPTEMBER SALE SPEEDING TOWARDS FINISH by Alan Carasso ON STANDING The calendar may say that Friday is the first day of autumn, but the prices during the second of two Book 5 sessions at the KITTEN=S JOY IN EUROPE Keeneland September Yearling Sale Thursday in Lexington were anything but >fall=-ing. With fully two days of bidding yet to come, gross receipts surged past the $300-million mark for the first time since 2008, when the turnover was nearly $328 million. The catalog for that particular sale of 5,555 yearlings was better than 25% bigger than the 4,139 booked for this year=s event. As has been reported, the new format of the 2017 sale render strict comparisons somewhat difficult, but during the corresponding final Book 5 session--the 11th session overall--in 2016, a single horse crossed the $100,000 threshold. Further amplifying the buoyancy of the 2017 September sale, no fewer than a dozen offerings hit that mark Thursday. Cont. p5 (click) IN TDN EUROPE TODAY BOOK 1 TO DAZZLE FROM START TO FINISH Emma Berry previews Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling By Bill Finley Sale, which takes place Oct. 3 to 6 in Newmarket. Saying that he=s unhappy with the prices paid for the offspring Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. of Kitten=s Joy (El Prado {Ire}) at the Keeneland September sale, owner Ken Ramsey said Thursday he is in the process of making plans that will lead to his star sire standing next year in Europe and finishing out his stallion career overseas. Ramsey said he believed that Kitten=s Joy, who is known primarily for producing top-class turf horses, will fare better on a continent where the vast majority of the races are run on the grass. Ramsey told the Thoroughbred Daily News that he is in the process of finding a European breeding farm to go in with him as a partner, and if the right deal can be struck, Kitten=s Joy will soon be on his way across the Atlantic. AYou don=t know how determined a fellow I can be, and this is what I want to do,@ he said. AWhen I get it in my head to do something, I get it accomplished. I think there=s a 90% chance that we=ll be able to strike a good deal with someone over there and that he will be sent to Europe.@ Twenty-eight Kitten=s Joys have sold at Keeneland for a gross of $3,205,000 and an average of $114,464. In 2017, his yearlings are averaging $113,305, according to TDN Sales Statistics, well below other sires in his stud fee range, he pointed out. Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Friday, September 22, 2017 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Assistant Editor Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Triple Crown trainer Bob Baffert with Parx Racing Secretary Sam Elliot at Parx Racing Michelle Benson in Bensalem, Pennsylvania on September 20, 2017. | Taylor Ejdys/EQUI-PHOTO Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] 2017 FOAL CROP EQUAL TO LAST YEAR’S 4 By estimates from The Jockey Club, the 2017 North American foal Social Media Strategist Justina Severni crop will be approximately 22,500, the same number that was estimated for the 2016 crop. Uncle Mo was bred to a near-record Director of Customer Service 256 mares, resulting in 207 live foals. Vicki Forbes [email protected] Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen CHRIS MCGRATH TO REJOIN TDN 7 Multiple award-winning journalist Chris McGrath is set to Director of Information Technology assume the role of Senior Market Columnist for the TDN, Ray Villa effective Jan. 1, 2018, it was announced Thursday. McGrath [email protected] will write a regular column on markets, contribute to sales WORLDWIDE INFORMATION coverage and write features for the TDN and TDN Weekend. International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 12 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 Kitten=s Joy to Europe? cont. AHe is the most underappreciated sire in North America,@ Ramsey said. AI am disgusted at what those horses sold for at Keeneland. He is the number-one living sire in North America, yet people here just aren=t interested in buying his yearlings. All the good ones are being bought by Europeans as it is, so that=s another reason to send him over there. I understand why. People here with the Grade I-winning mares want to breed to Tapit and the top commercial dirt sires. And those are the horses people are willing to pay the big money for. AFor him, it=s time for a fresh start and a new chapter in his career,@ he said. AHe=s peaked over here. It=s time to try something new.@ Ramsey said he had resisted sending Kitten=s Joy to Europe in the past because he is Aa family pet.@ He said he would insist that any farm standing him in Europe does not shuttle him to the Southern Hemisphere and that he be returned to Ramsey Farm once retired as a stallion. AI know money is what makes the world go around, but I=m not going to do this for the money,@ he said. AI want to do it for the horse because he deserves a fair Ken Ramsey | Coady Photography chance to show what he can really do as a stallion. I think over there people with the very best mares will be eager to breed to him.@ Currently standing at Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Kitten=s Joy=s stud fee is $100,000. Ramsey said he believed it should be lowered if he is moved to Europe, saying he felt something in the area of $70,000 in local currency would be a good fit. AI think at that price, he can get a full book of quality mares,@ he said. AIf someone over there tells me they think he should stand for more money, I will listen.@ Though Kitten=s Joy traditionally has had large books, producing 173 reported live foals in 2017, Ramsey pointed out that he owns many of the mares that are bred to Kitten=s Joy which limits the income he receives for standing him at stud. Kitten=s Joy, who is 16, is the leading active sire in North America, as well as the number one turf sire, according to TDN Sire Lists. With nine crops to race, Kitten=s Joy has had three champions, 11 Grade I winners, and his progeny have earned in excess of $73 million. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 2017 FOAL CROP EQUAL TO LAST YEAR=S NUMBER By Bill Finley The Jockey Club is estimating that when the final tally is concluded, the 2017 North American foal crop will consist of 22,500 horses. That is the same number estimated for the 2016 foal crop. The report is a sign of some welcome stability to the breeding industry, as the last time the foal crop did not decline was 2005, when there were 38,365 foals. Other highlights from The Jockey Club=s annual breeding statistics report: $ Uncle Mo was the most popular sire regarding number of mares bred. He was bred to 256 mares with 207 live foals reported so far. He fell just short of the number of mares bred the previous year to Scat Daddy (258), which is believed to be a record. Kitten=s Joy was next, having been bred to 224 mares, four more than Into Mischief. Having breed bred to 208 mares, American Pharoah was the only other stallion to top the 200 mark. Partridge said the Kitten=s Joys bred to Ramsey mares will be sold privately to owners in the Southern Hemisphere. Tapit was bred to 14 mares on Southern Hemisphere time. $ The breeding business in Maryland is booming. The Jockey Club estimates there will be 500 Maryland-bred foals from the foal crop of 2017, a 21.7% increase over 2016. Maryland was the only state where the breeding industry saw more than a modest increase. Kentucky and Ontario were the only other states or provinces that showed an increase in number of mares Uncle Mo covered 256 mares in 2016 | Coolmore photo bred. $ Kitten=s Joy was bred to an unusually high number of mares $ A New Mexico sire named Quick Action (Carson City) has the (22) during the summer months, meaning the foals will be distinction of leading the Apercentage of live foals@ category. He headed to Southern Hemisphere countries to begin their racing was bred to just one mare and she produced twins. careers. ASome of those are ours, probably a third of them,@ said $ There were 439 horses that were conceived in North Ramsey Farm General Manager Mark Partridge.