Claiming Ethics

[The Exporter]

Ny Metro racing in the glory days. Virtually all of the sharp trainers were off my radar as far as claiming from them.
Larry Summer, Perry Steinkhol, Ray Flis, Rejean Daigneault, Lou Meittinis, etc - all definitly no nos. I looked for second and third tier trainers who were languishing with formerly classy horses and had dropped in price. Unlike life, in horse racing you CAN buy class

And, for good reason. I got spanked good for one claim. Mark Beckwith had a crazy reputation at this time around 2009. He had a "family pet" that he jammed from $6K to $15K and won at will. He did this for a couple years with this horse. His name was Renior. There was a $15K claiming series coming up so, I reached in and grabbed him for $10K. You would have thought I kidnapped the Lindbergh baby!
 We raced him for $15K a couple starts no wins but seconds then dropped him and Beckwith took him back. That kind of ended the dynasty Renoir had as he was now raced at his propper level.
A week or so later, I have a mare I had recently purchased from Burke for $20K. She won her first start for us and was now in tough on conditions. My trainer was having his own claiming war with Beckwith. So, he dropped hy mare in for $12.5. $18 with her allowance. I was game. As I said I loved the claiming game. Beckwith takes her. She wins for him first start off the claim. 2 weeks later, she wins the Mare open. That one stung a bit. But, I loved the action.

[caddy]

Agree about entering in a claimer, but if you claim off a friend I think you're sending him a message.

Claiming ethics     that, Friends, is an xample of OXY-MORON

[Jackie Mo]

It is a bit crazy how Monticello’s handle per race is only exceeded on the east coast by the Meadowlands. The place is a total dump. I would say 75% of the horses are not worth much. And like most half mile ovals there is very little closing from behind. Post positions 6,7,8 perform so terribly vs 1-5. So knowing that 47% favs win it becomes tough to win any real money. All this being said, their handle greatly outperforms most harness tracks by a lot. Not everything in life is explainable.

they have a large handle due to the rebate groups from Lexington are allowed bet after the race starts-its a very popular signal down there

[theokodjak26]

On the 14th I started this thread hoping to learn a few things. When I was part of ownership groups we bought our horses through sales when they were young and lightly raced. So I truly do not know very much about this claiming game. But this thread, and all you Ploppers, have given me quite an education, which I am appreciative. From a fan perspective I love betting higher end claimers and wish there were more of them. You can usually count on these horses taking turns beating each other which is one reason you can get real value betting vs so many odds-on condition races. The same values used to be found when there was classified races. Wasn’t it great to open a Monticello program to a C-3 trot and looked like no one could possibly win? Now that was my kind of betting race. Anyway keep up the good stuff Ploppers.

[Fuguzzi]

Drivers will often direct their friends to claim certain horses that they have sat behind. I'm not saying this is bad, it makes total sense.

Personally, I think this practice sucks big time.

[Equus Caballus]

Half the races at all tracks should be claimers. It's the best way to bring in new owners. Claim one -- watch him race the next week. And I don't mean these N/W inflated price claimers. Just straight claimers.

Most claiming owners aren’t “owners”

They are renting horses for a short period

[JIDGE]

Most claiming owners aren’t “owners”

They are renting horses for a short period

That's true in part but it still gets outsiders involved in the sport, which is definitely something that's needed.

[Generation XYZ]

Most claiming owners aren’t “owners”

They are renting horses for a short period

What ever the vehicle, Rent or Own. Claiming owners are action players and bettors. It keeps the game alive.