Ramseys Eclipse Adena as Breeders

Ken and Sarah Ramsey rewarded as Outstanding Breeder thanks to sire Kitten's Joy.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey earned their first Eclipse trophy for outstanding breeder on the strength of their homegrown stallion Kitten's Joy , who topped the 2013 North American general sires list.

Supporting Kitten’s Joy with their own mares while outside breeders remained skeptical, the Ramseys were rewarded with astonishing results throughout 2013. For the first time in a decade, Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs failed to top North American breeders by earnings, displaced by the Ramseys, who were represented as breeders by $12,175,837 in earnings, edging Adena’s $11,999,752.

The Ramseys led all breeders with 23 black-type winners on the season and a total of 287 wins.

Most of those stakes victories came courtesy of the progeny of Kitten’s Joy, an Eclipse Award winner himself as champion turf male of 2004. He stands at the Ramseys’ Ramsey Farm near Nicholasville, Ky. The Ramseys bred 2013 grade I winnersAdmiral Kitten , Big Blue Kitten , Kitten's Dumplings, Real Solution , and Stephanie's Kitten; grade II winners Emotional Kitten andHyper; and grade III winners Bobby's Kitten , Csaba , and Kitten Kaboodle.

The votes below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters:

Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey 221; Adena Springs, 17; Morton Fink, 4; Darley 1; WinStar Farm, 1. Voter Abstentions, 5.