Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis
Like most tracks, the majority of stock is cheap claimers and maidens. by raising the minimal claiming price to 20K, you would not be eliminating the cheap claimers-the 10K horse would just run, virtually protected, for 20k instead.
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I understand your point, and that's why the decision to raise the bottom from $12,500 to $16,000 for maiden claimers was a distinction without a difference.
As for "open" claimers, I think raising the bottom would have a significant effect. A few years ago, when the first rash of inner track fatalities occurred, the bottom claiming level for the winter meet was $7500, and there were many Finger Lakes horses wintering here. NYRA raised the bottom to $12,500 last winter, and few of those horses were here last winter. If NYRA were to raise the bottom to $20,000, will there be some horsemen running their horses over their heads? Sure. But the difference in New York between $20,000 and $10,000 is far greater than the difference between, for example, $5,000 and $8,000 at a track like Tampa.