National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association

Horsemen, Fans Embrace Claiming Crown At Gulfstream Park With Big Fields, Record Handle

By the time the Claiming Crown had ended Saturday at Gulfstream Park – after a record $14.6 million was wagered on the event – it was clear how much the Claiming Crown had grown over the past nine years at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track.

Not only was this a day when a horse claimed six weeks ago for $6,250 could win an $80,000 race, but this was also a day when a Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) runner-up could prep for the $3-million Pegasus World Cup (G1).

“No question, this event has evolved,” said Dan Metzger, president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). “I thought Saturday's fields, from top to bottom, were some of the best we ever had.”

Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), which partners with TOBA on the Claiming Crown, believes the event is looked upon differently now that it is at Gulfstream.

“I believe in the past some people looked at it as a year-end blowout. But I see it as the launch of a new year,” Hamelback said. “The Breeders' Cup kind of wraps up the year. But because it's at Gulfstream, and the opening weekend of the Championship Meet, I think it's become the beginning of a new year. I think if it was earlier in the fall or summer, you wouldn't have the buildup or the quality you have. The job [vice president of racing] Mike [Lakow], [stakes coordinator] Eric Friedman and, of course [executive director of Florida racing operations] Billy Badgett did was incredible.”

In the nine years the Claiming Crown has been held at Gulfstream, handle on the day's program has increased each year. Prior to 2012, the largest handle on the previous 13 Claiming Crown programs – Claiming Crown races only – was $4,906,096. On the nine Claiming Crown races held at Gulfstream Saturday, handle was $12,074,238.

“The support of the fans who set a record for total wagering is a testament to the competitive and quality fields,” Metzger said.

Along with Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up Jesus' Team prepping for the Pegasus World Cup with a victory in the $150,000 Jewel, there were 10 other horses that won or placed in graded stakes participating in the Claiming Crown. In total, there were 108 horses entered in the nine Claiming Crown races.

“When the card was drawn we knew we had something special to offer,” said Lakow.

Along with those graded-stakes winners and placed horses, there were also stories like Descente, claimed for $6,520 in October, winning the $80,000 Glass Slipper; the 55-1 longshot High Noon Rider winning the $95,000 Emerald; the promising 3-year-old Fiya remaining undefeated on turf winning the Canterbury; and the former $16,000 claimer Krsto Skye winning the $75,000 Express.

“I think at the beginning not a lot of people targeted [the Claiming Crown],” said trainer Peter Walder, who won his second consecutive Glass Slipper with Descente. “But now that it's at Gulfstream, a lot of people are shipping in for the Championship Meet, and there's a lot of owners who want to come here. Why wouldn't you?”

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Trainer Mike Maker Tries To Cap Banner Season With 11 Entrants In Claiming Crown

Winding down the best season of his career and coming in off the Churchill Downs' fall title, trainer Mike Maker looks to add to his record 17 victories when the 2020 Claiming Crown returns to Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Maker has 11 horses spread among five of the nine stakes comprising the Claiming Crown, which serves as a Breeders' Cup-style championship for the blue-collar horses that are the backbone of American racing.

The Claiming Crown stakes are run under starter-allowance conditions, restricted to horses who have competed for a designated claiming price or cheaper within a certain time frame. The Claiming Crown is a partnership between the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. This is the event's 22nd year and ninth straight at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Maker aims to improve on what already is his best season since leaving his job as an assistant trainer to D. Wayne Lukas to open his own stable in 2003. His horses have won a career-best 253 races (third in North America) and more than $13.47 million (fifth in North America) this year through Thursday. That includes Maker earning his third Breeders' Cup victory with Three Diamonds Farm's Fire At Will in the $1 million Juvenile Turf at Keeneland, one of the stable's trio of Grade 1 winners in 2020, the others being Zulu Alpha in Gulfstream's Pegasus World Cup Turf and Aquaphobia in Monmouth Park's United Nations.

“I'm very happy, and hopefully we can add to it this weekend,” he said of his season.

Maker, who also won the Kentucky Downs' 2020 training title, seeks to pad his 33 stakes victories this year (fourth in North America) in the Claiming Crown.

Headlining his contingent is Three Diamonds' 5-year-old mare Jakarta, the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $90,000 Claiming Crown Distaff Dash at five-eighths of a mile on turf. Jakarta won Gulfstream Park's Powder Break Stakes last year and this year captured Kentucky Downs' $100,000 Claiming Crown prep before finishing a close third behind multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy in Keeneland's Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County.

Maker's six entries by themselves would make a great betting race in the $95,000 Emerald, a 1 1/16-mile turf affair that attracted an overflow field. The six pack includes 2019 winner Muggsamatic, who was moved to his barn in the spring; 7-2 favorite Hieroglyphics, a winner of two straight in New York; Apreciado, third in last year's W.L. McKnight (G3) at Gulfstream; Iowa-bred Artie's Rumor, a winner in an Oct. 22 Keeneland allowance race in his first start after the $40,000 claim; Aqueduct's 2019 Gio Ponti winner Temple, and Sniper Kitten. Owned by 16-time Claiming Crown-winning owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Sniper Kitten needs two defections in order to get in the 12-horse field.

The Maker Claiming Crown assembly also includes 3-1 second choice Unmoored and the stakes-placed Tiger Blood in the $90,000 Canterbury at five-eighths of a mile on turf; 7-2 second choice and recent $25,000 claim Long Blade in the $75,000, six-furlong Express; and Treasure Trove, claimed for $40,000 in his last start and the 7-2 second choice in the $150,000 Jewel at 1 1/8 miles.

“I think we've got a good group of horses,” Maker said. “Jakarta fits very well. Treasure Trove was claimed in Indiana with this spot in mind, with Jesus' Team obviously the one to beat there. We're tough in the Canterbury but Fiya looks awful tough. A lot of live chances as far the Emerald, but I don't think they can separate any of our horses. I think it will come down to the trip.”

While owners such as Three Diamonds, Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, Michael Dubb, Ken and Sarah Ramsey, and Hooties Racing, Michael Hui and WSS Racing also compete at the top of the game, Maker says his clients really enjoy the Claiming Crown. The trainer said he claims a fair number of horses with not only the Claiming Crown in mind but also the lucrative prep races at Kentucky Downs.

“It's a good way to finish off the year,” Maker said. “We've claimed a lot of horses, a lot of horses fit here, and we've had good success. It's a great way to kick off the meet at Gulfstream. It's been a lot of fun. When you claim a horse, you kind of figure out how to get out (investment-wise) and make money, and the Claiming Crown is one of the factors that always goes into the decision.”

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Longtime Horse Racing Executive Tony Chamblin Passes

Tony Chamblin, a longtime horse racing industry executive and ambassador for the industry passed away peacefully Sunday at his home in Lexington, Ky. He was 81.

Chamblin played an instrumental role in the passage of the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978 and the Pari-Mutual Licensing Simplification Act of 1988, and later became an early supporter of federal legislation intended to align U.S. equine medication policies with International standards

Chamblin served in a number of executive capacities during his nearly 50-year career in the horse racing industry while leaving a lasting legacy along the way.

As chief executive of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) from 1965-1983, Chamblin oversaw the only horsemen's organization of its kind in North America. While headquartered near Washington, D.C., Chamblin played an instrumental role in the passage of the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978, a bill that has generated billions of dollars in purse money for owners and trainers and racetrack operators over the past 42 years.

From 1983-86 and at the urging of local horsemen, Chamblin took the helm at Finger Lakes Racetrack in New York. Changes quickly ensued. The western New York oval became one of the first racetracks in the nation to introduce whole card simulcasting. Chamblin also introduced twilight racing and Pick Six wagering to Finger Lakes.

From 1986-2001, Chamblin served as the chief executive of the Association of Racing Commissioners' International (ARCI). During his time with the ARCI, the association completed a decades-long effort to establish a national multi-jurisdictional racing license for owners. The association also completely overhauled its model rules of racing, administered accreditation programs for stewards and judges, developed uniform totalizator standards that cleared the way for massive national simulcasting growth, instituted an accreditation program for drug testing laboratories, funded numerous drug testing research projects, and classified over 750 drugs into five categories. In 1993, Chamblin was honored by the ARCI with the William H. May Award for meritorious service to racing.

Along the way, Chamblin traveled the world promoting U.S. horse racing interests. His work took him to more than 100 racetracks in the United States and Canada. As an ambassador for racing Chamblin was asked to speak on the industry in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Mexico, France, the Middle East, Australia, South America, South Africa and Russia, among other countries.

Anthony (Tony) Chamblin was born May 15, 1939, in Flora, Illinois. Chamblin graduated from Milliken University in Decatur, Ill., where he majored in English and lettered in football and tennis. In 1961, after graduating college at age 23, Chamblin became the youngest sports editor in the country of a paper with over 100,000 in circulation (Evansville Courier & Press). During his early career as a sports writer and editor Chamblin won the U.S. Basketball Writers award, U.S. Football Writers award, and wrote for Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. Chamblin has written and edited four books, and also wrote the History of Thoroughbred Racing for World Book Encyclopedia.

While in retirement, Chamblin was proud to advocate for the Water Hay Oats Alliance (WHOA), a grassroots movement supporting federal legislation to eliminate race-day medication and dedicated to changing negative public perceptions of the sport.

Chamblin also publicly endorsed the Horse Racing Integrity Act (HIA) the forerunner to the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) currently making its way through Congress.

Chamblin, who died of congestive heart failure, is survived by his wife of 31 years, Debbie; two daughters, Margaret McClintock (Tampa) and Kaitlin Chamblin (Lexington); a son, Keith (Lexington) and six grandchildren. A celebration of Chamblin's life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations be made to Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm (www.oldfriendsequine.org).

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Claiming Crown Returns to Gulfstream for Ninth Year in a Row

The 22nd edition of the Claiming Crown, a nine-race event offering $835,000 in purses to the blue-collar horses that are the backbone of the Thoroughbred industry’s day-to-day racing schedule, will return to Gulfstream Park for the ninth consecutive year Saturday, Dec. 5.

Handle on the Claiming Crown has climbed each of the last eight years since being held at Gulfstream.

The Claiming Crown is a partnership between the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).

“The Claiming Crown from its inception has been a unique way to celebrate these blue-collar horses,” said Gulfstream’s Vice President of Racing Mike Lakow. “It’s a fantastic day of racing and a day racing fans look forward to. We’re excited to once again be part of this great event.”

“We want to express our sincerest appreciation to Gulfstream Park and the Florida HBPA for their continued commitment to the Claiming Crown,” said Dan Metzger, president of TOBA. “With all of the challenges we’re facing as a sport and country this year, it’s very gratifying to be able to host the 22nd running of our event.”

Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA, added: “The National HBPA Board of Directors with President Leroy Gessmann and our Regional Vice Presidents are extremely pleased to once again announce the 2020 Claiming Crown, along with our partners TOBA, the Florida HBPA, and Gulfstream Park. We continue to see this event grow in popularity with owners, trainers, and horseplayers, all of whom are without question the backbone of our industry. The Claiming Crown has always recognized the excellence of Thoroughbred racing’s stalwarts. Even amid today’s trying circumstances, it’s a priority for us to provide this day showcasing the blue-collar horses and their owners and trainers who make racing programs across America possible. While we understand this year is a year like no other, we all feel it is important to also see this amazing day of races take place as it has been for over 20 years, and we hope by doing so to bring a sense of stability for horsemen.”

The $150,000 Jewel will headline the Claiming Crown program. The 1 1/8-mile route will be contested by 3-year-olds and up that have raced for a claiming price of $35,000 or less.

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