Ramsey Solution the Correct Answer in Tapit Stakes
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Photo: Grace Clark/Kentucky Downs
Ramsey Solution holds off Midnight Tea Time in the Tapit Stakes at Kentucky Downs
Trainer Wesley Ward, known for winning races over European courses, seems just as effective over American courses that look like something out of Europe.
He won three races Sept. 9 at Kentucky Downs' undulating, foreign-style turf course, including the $300,000 Tapit Stakes with Ramsey Solution, who outran Midnight Tea Time by a length. The Tapit came after earlier wins with Infinite in Race 2 and Royal Approval in Race 3.
Gerardo Corrales rode all three winners for Ward, and he always had Ramsey Solution well placed in the Tapit, a race at a mile and 70 yards that was restricted to horses that had not won a stakes race this year. The 4-year-old gelding did his part, too, traveling effortlessly over the unique course that some horses fail to handle.
Third early as Get Western and Morocco sparred for the early lead through an opening quarter-mile in :21.94, Ramsey Solution advanced into second on the outside, taking command shortly after a half-mile in :45.17.
He took the lead with six furlongs in 1:08.35 and was never challenged down the stretch, completing the distance in 1:36.38 on a firm course. He paid $18.20 in his stakes debut.
"Very happy," said Corrales. "Good horse, nice horse."
Corrales, 24, a native of Panama, picked up one of the biggest victories of his young career in the Tapit. The leading rider last summer and fall at Thistledown and Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, he made the switch to the Kentucky circuit this year and finished in a tie for eighth in the recently concluded Ellis Park meet.
Longshot Midnight Tea Time ran on for second in the Tapit, a half-length ahead of show finisher Hembree and fourth-place English Bee, the tepid 3-1 favorite.
Split the Wickets, Temple, Morocco, Big Score, Get Western, and Hawkish completed the order of finish.
The victory from Ramsey Solution validated Ward's faith in the 4-year-old, who earlier this spring won an allowance at Churchill Downs before disappointing with a fourth at Saratoga Race Course in his last start July 18.
The son of Real Solution is a homebred for owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Slow to debut until last October due to a chip in a knee, he showed further improvement after being gelded following a seventh-place finish in his first race.
"I've been really excited about this guy from the word go. I'm glad he finally came through," Ward said. "I really loved him the other day up at Saratoga and he kind of gave me the finger.
"I'm excited how he came through for Mr. Ramsey. He's the guy who kind of made me back here. To come through for him on a big money, big day like this, it makes him happy more than anybody."
Ramsey Solution is the first stakes winner out of the Dynaformer mare Dynarhythm. Of her seven foals to race, six are winners, one of which, Fear the Kitten (by Kitten's Joy ), was twice grade 3-placed as a 3-year-old in 2013.
The Chad Brown-trained Real Solution, a son of Kitten's Joy raced by the Ramseys, won the 2013 Arlington Million Stakes (G1T) via disqualification and added the Knob Creek Manhattan Stakes (G1T) a year later. He stands at Calumet Farm, where his 2020 fee was $7,500.