Claiming Crown: Just Getting a Horse There Can Be a Victory

Edited Press Release

Many of the trainers and owners running horses in Saturday's eight Claiming Crown races already won a critical competition before the starting gate even opens at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots: They got the horse at the claim box.

With shrinking foal crops and enhanced purses in areas such as Kentucky, New York and Arkansas, there has never been more demand for a competitive claiming horse, the backbone of American racing. The Claiming Crown was created 25 years ago by the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders of America (TOBA) to spotlight those horses with their own big-money day.

The 25th Claiming Crown–this year worth a total of $1 million and staged with support from the Louisiana HBPA–clearly has encouraged some owners to seek out horses with this day in mind.

“A lot of guys gear up for this day,” said trainer Robertino Diodoro, whose seven Claiming Crown entrants include three contenders for the $200,000 Jewel in Flying P Stable's Saqeel and Frosted Grace and Ken Ramsey's King's Ovation. “Two of my bigger guys, Flying P and Ken Ramsey, have had success at the Claiming Crown and just love it. Jason Provenzano has mentioned it to me at least once a week for four months about having Frosted Grace for the Claiming Crown. Flying P last winter would say, 'How about this horse (to claim)? He'd be eligible for the Claiming Crown next year.' It was nine or 11 months away, but it shows you how excited some of the owners are and how much pride they take in running in it.

“It's a big day and very important to a lot of owners. The blue-collar horses get to be the spotlight of the day and run for good money. You have to have blue-collar horses in this game, for sure, for spectators, owners and trainers. They're a big part of our game.”

Claiming a horse is one of the quickest and most effective ways to get new owners into the game–or to bring lapsed owners back. Claim a horse, and you could see it run back in your silks in a matter of weeks.

For example, owner Paul Parker and trainer/co-owner Jeff Hiles needed to win a 13-way shake to get Time for Trouble, the favorite in Saturday's $75,000 Ready's Rocket Express, for $8,000 on June 18, 2021 at Churchill Downs. He was one of five horses claimed out of the race. Time for Trouble has not run in another race since where he could be claimed, that includes winning last year's Ready's Rocket Express at Churchill Downs.

Starter-allowance races such as the Claiming Crown are restricted to horses that have started for a certain claiming price or cheaper in a specified time frame. But there is no claiming involved, making starter races attractive to those who don't want to risk losing their horse.

The complexities of the claiming game increase when horses' eligibility for starter races expires. If they're put in another claiming race to make them re-eligible for starter competition, there's a good chance they'll be claimed. On the other hand, horsemen need to run in spots where they can make money to stay in business. Running a horse over its head repeatedly just to hang on to it doesn't do the owner, trainer or the horse any good.

So it's one thing to claim a horse with the Claiming Crown in mind and another to still have it come Claiming Crown day.

Mike Maker, the all-time leading Claiming Crown trainer with 21 victories, and his fellow horsemen Diodoro, Chris Hartman and Joe Sharp are all over Saturday's Claiming Crown entries. Maker and Diodoro entered seven apiece, Sharp six and Hartman four.

Then there are all the horses racing Saturday that those guys used to train. Take Invaluable–and a lot of people did just that.

Now six, Invaluable won last year's Claiming Crown Glass Slipper for Maker but will start this year for Sharp, who claimed her two races ago. The Claiming Crown was only Invaluable's second start for Maker, who took the mare off Diodoro for $32,000 at Saratoga in a race where all four horses were claimed. The prior winter, Diodoro had taken Invaluable off Hartman for $30,000 at Oaklawn, a race in which five of eight starters changed hands.

“That one hurts,” Diodoro said of losing Invaluable, the 2022 National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. “I loved that mare. I didn't want to lose her. She's as honest as they come. We could have tried to hold her out for the Claiming Crown. But you get to Saratoga, the owners want to win, the purses are big. You can't just 'protect' these horses. You've got to run them where they can win–and there's a pretty good chance you're going to lose them at the claim box.”

The home run is getting a horse that improves to where it can run well in allowance and stakes races. That's the case with Frosted Grace, a $32,000 claim a year ago who has made $382,860 for Flying P in 2023, including winning Lone Star Park's GIII Steve Sexton Mile S.

Three other Diodoro-trained horses will make their first start for the barn Saturday, having been claimed specifically for the Claiming Crown. One, Pens Street in the Glass Slipper, has been claimed in three of her last four races.

The $75,000 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial will be the second start for Diodoro with $40,000 claim On a Spree, who changed hands six times in his prior seven starts, including spending one race apiece for Hartman and Sharp.

“The claiming game gives everyone a chance,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. “There's often not a lot that separates blue blood from blue collar. Horses every day outrun their pedigrees. High price tags bring high expectations, but sometimes those horses simply aren't good enough for top-level company. That doesn't mean they aren't still good, productive horses. And sometimes horses' form goes off to where they're put in a claiming race to get them back on track. Like Emerald favorite Therapist.”

That New York-bred gelding, an eight-time stakes-winner at the time, was claimed for $25,000 and then for $50,000 in his next start by Maker in January. Therapist now has won three races for new owner Michael Dubb, including the GI United Nations S.

Hamelback noted that Glass Slipper favorite Samarita was a $1,000 yearling who has won her past six races and that Claiming Crown Jewel favorite Money Supply cost $400,000 as a yearling but clearly didn't fit into his original owner's program geared toward the classic races.

“The same mare, Tokyo Time, produced $3-million earner Olympiad a year after she foaled Iron Horse contender Mau Mau,” Hamelback said. “He lost his first six starts, was put in a $30,000 claiming race, won that day and was claimed and has since raced successfully at his level for several different trainers. There are a lot more Mau Maus than Olympiads. They are good racehorses at their level and bring a lot of joy to their owners and barns. We celebrate them all with the Claiming Crown.”

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Max K. O. Goes For The Green In Saturday’s Claiming Crown Emerald

Ten Twenty Racing's Max K. O. earned a berth in Saturday's $95,000 Emerald by winning a Sept. 8 qualifying race at Kentucky Downs, which paid the $100 nominating fee and would have paid a shipping fee up to $1000 had the Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee been stabled anywhere other than Gulfstream Park.

The Emerald, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up who have raced for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-2021, is one of nine starter stakes at Gulfstream in Saturday's $810,000 Claiming Crown – an annual event that celebrates the blue-collar horses that support the day-to-day racing programs at racetracks across the country.

Created by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association in partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Claiming Crown rewards and pays tribute to the horses and horsemen that provide the foundation for day-to-day racing programs at tracks around the country.

Saturday's 11-race program drew 128 total entries.

Max K. O. was claimed by his connections for $25,000 out of an impressive optional claiming allowance victory at Gulfstream May 16 after being claimed by his former connections for $16,000 out of a winning effort two weeks earlier.

In his first start for Joseph, the 5-year-old son of J P's Gusto stepped up in a big way to miss winning the Mr. Steele Stakes by a nose to stablemate Renaisance Frolic, a graded stakes-placed multiple stakes winner.

“We claimed him for $25,000 because he was always in good form,” Joseph said. “We ran him in a stake. We were a bit ambitious, and he just got beat. After that we took him to Kentucky Downs for a Claiming Crown prep and he won that quite well.”

Max K. O. stalked the pace before kicking in through the long Kentucky Downs stretch to win by 2 ¾ lengths under Irad Ortiz Jr. Back at Gulfstream, where the turf course was undergoing renovation, the Florida-bred turf runner held a clear lead in the stretch before coming up just a neck short of holding off Louder Than Bombs in a starter allowance on Tapeta Oct. 28.

“Last time on Tapeta, he looked like he was home free and he just got nailed at the wire,” Joseph said. “My primary thought was: it was on Tapeta, and it was still early and it didn't play to speed as much. I think that was against him. I know it's an excuse, but I honestly believe it was valid excuse. The horse that beat him had more stamina. I hope back on the turf, he will run a big race.”

Trainer Mike Maker will seek his record-extending 19th Claiming Crown success with Paradise Farms Corp.'s Attentive and Jordan Wycoff's The Last Zip in the Emerald.

Maker has saddled a record seven Emerald winners.

Attentive, a 5-year-old son of Power Broker was claimed for $40,000 out of his most recent start, a close-up third Nov. 7 at Belmont Park. The Last Zip finished four lengths behind Max K.O. in Kentucky Downs' Emerald qualifier two starts back. Chantal Sutherland has the mount on Attentive, while Jorge Vargas Jr. has been named to ride The Last Zip.

Sandra New's Louder Than Bombs will clash again with Max K.O. in the Emerald. The David Fawkes-trained 5-year-old had rallied to win a $20,000 claiming race on turf prior to his victory over the Joseph trainer on Tapeta. Emisael Jaramillo will once again be aboard the son of Violence.

Monarch Stable Inc.'s Light Fury, who has won starter allowances on turf and Tapeta while finishing in the money in his last six starts; Bruno Schickedanz's Mandate, who captured the Artie Schiller takes at Aqueduct at 44-1 last time out; Dotson Stable LLC's Benelux, who won back-to-back optional claiming allowances at Arlington prior to an off-the-board finish at Keeneland; Mob Stables LLC's Clear Vision, claimed for $25,000 out of a dominating victory at Belmont last time out; Patricia Generazio's Mid Day Image, who is coming off back-to-back starter handicap wins at Monmouth; and David Melin, Laurie Plesa and Leon Ellman's Vow Me Now, a stakes-winning son of Broken Vow trained by Eddie Plesa Jr.; are also entered in the Emerald.

Call Curt, Go Mike, Kitten's Spa, Surf and Turf and Viski Jones round out the 14-horse field.

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