The current claiming rules in Louisiana harken back to the Stone Age, horseman, author, and jockey Jack Gilligan's father Patrick Gilligan wrote in an op/ed for the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary. Those rules state that the claimant becomes the owner of a horse as soon as that horse becomes a starter in the race, and that the claimant owns the horse “whether alive or dead, sound or unsound, or injured at anytime after leaving the starting gate, during the race or after.”
In states like California, Kentucky, and New York, voided claiming rules are written into racing regulations. These negate a claim if a horse suffers a catastrophic injury, and depending on the state, may also negate the claim for a horse that's lame or suffers EIPH during or after a race.
Gilligan cites a study of claiming horses by Professor Tim Parkin utilizing the Equine Injury Database, which reveals that when a voided claim rule goes on the books, the rate of catastrophic injury drops by as much as 25 percent (depending on the strictness of the rule).
Louisiana's claiming “rule creates mortal moral hazard,” Gilligan wrote. “It allows and implicitly accepts the possibility that trainers and their owners could engage in behavior of grossest negligence, and possibly profit from it.”
Read more at the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.
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