Need help understanding Claiming races

[Dave Shields]

I don't fully understand how they work in the real world or here in the SIM. So I could use some help in understanding how it works. What I think I understand is that this is like the lowest of the low in terms of racing, a good way to dump a not-so-hot horse or bring in more horses to your stable as "filler". But I could be wrong about that...

Say for instance, I enter a horse into a Claiming race. Can anyone out there claim that horse? Or do they have to have a horse in the race?

Say for instance, I see someone elses horse in a Claiming race that I want. What do I do to put in a claim to that horse? What happens when more than one other person wants the same horse?


Any advice is welcome and much appreciated. I am slowly learning things, but beware... I have many more questions to come!

[John X]

Hello Dave,

A claiming race is generally looked upon as the basement in racing. There are generally two types of claiming races. There is the Claiming race, where every horse entered in the race is eligible to be claimed for a predetermined price. There is an Allowance Optional Claiming, where it is up to the owner/trainer whether the horse is to run with a claiming tag or not. The latter of the two is considered the most lucrative, and arguably considered the "higher quality" horses.

Anyone can claim a horse. You don't need to have a horse running in that race. Here at the Sim, Em has a form on the front page for claiming. <a href='http://www.turfangels.com/sim/claiming.html' target='_blank'>Claiming Form</a>.

For examples on how the claiming races look, may I suggest you check out <a href='http://www.equibase.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.equibase.com/</a>. Check out the entries at the various tracks.

[Laura Ferguson]

Claiming races are actually rather fascinating events. For horses that can't cut it at a higher level, yes, it's a way for them to make some money, and at many smaller tracks, the majority of the races will be claimers.

But, here's the deal. Not all claimers are bad horses. Some people give up on a horse too early, or haven't found the magic combination, or are just bad trainers. John Henry ran in several claimers early in his career, was ultimately claimed by Sam Rubin, and the combination of turf and being sent to California under Ron McAnally, transformed into a Horse of the Year, and multi-millionaire status. Brass Hat, who won two big races this year and goes in next week's Dubai World Cup, began his career in a maiden claimer because he didn't show much in the morning and had a very blah pedigree. He wasn't claimed, and once his connections saw what he could really do on a track in a race, they didn't run him in claimers anymore. There are several trainers have had a successful career claiming horses and getting them to win stakes or allowances. One example is Bobby Frankel, who now trains top horses in California, but began his career doing precisely that in New York.

On the other hand, some claimers are very bad horses indeed, and there's no making them any better, so don't take the above paragraph as a license to go claim-crazy. Other claimers are tough at the appropriate level - run them in a stakes, they'll get their head handed to them, but run them in a claimer, and they can get a nice win streak going and bring back a bunch of checks. It can be fun to root for a claimer - they're usually around for several years, unlike a top horse, who is usually retired by the time he starts drawing the public's attention. They also usually aren't treated like they're made of glass - they may start 12-18 times in a year, as opposed to a stakes horse, who might race only six or eight times.

Claimers are also interesting to me, because there can be a lot of psychology in them, at least in real life. In real life, a $50,000 claimer dropped to a $5,000 claimer, especially if that horse hasn't run in a while, creates an interesting situation. Is this a horse who is hurting, and now really only competitive at $5,000, or is the trainer bluffing in order to get either an easy check, or to qualify for starter allowances (starter allowances are races that are restricted to horses that have run in a claiming race where they could have been claimed for a certain price, or cheaper, in the past X months. You can't claim a horse out of a starter allowance. It's kind of a way to shelter a cheaper claiming horse for a while from being claimed or bought from you).

Finally, to address one question I didn't see directly addressed yet, if multiple people put in a claim for the same horse, basically, the names are put in a hat, and one is drawn. There's no first come first serve, or other ranking. Just lady luck.

Hope that helps! If there's something that's unclear, or I've triggered another question (or set of questions), please let me know!

Laura

[Ronda Figal]

If i remember right Seabiscuit also ran in claimers becasue his trainer had writtten him off....Then Howard got hold of him and "Silent Tom" made him into one of the most beloved race hroses in california....

[Emily Mitchell]

And Charismatic, the Derby and Preakness winner, was a previous claimer.

His Kentucky Derby is one of my all time favorites. B)

[Dave Shields]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I now have a much better idea of Claiming races. I will have to keep my eye on those races. I am sure I will have more questions, but I can't think of any at the moment.