Claiming a Horse

[magic_idol]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

A lot of really expenses horses end up running in cheap claiming races. If you look at the 4th race this coming Thursday at Hollywood Park, there are a few fairly expensive horses in there. It is an $8,000 claiming race. Corvinus was purchased as a 2 year old for $110,000. Babcock Lake was purchased as a 2 year old for $100,000. Candy's Bro was purchased as a yearling for $90,000. All three of these horses are geldings. It's fairly common to see horses that sold for a few hundred thousand eventually running in cheap claiming races.

A horse does not know how much it cost a slow gelding no matter what the breed is still a slow gelding

[freddymo]

I won at a 40% clip for a six month period and broke even.


JUICER lol

[DerbyCat]

Thanks everyone, a lot of good advice here. I'm going to Pleasanton this Saturday to do the paperwork to get my owners license and to open my account. My trainer is on the lookout for a good claim for us, I'm going to trust him to pick a good horse - he's got a pretty good win % 1st off the claim but you never know... I'm going into this with my trainer and another good friend (she's owned horses previously) so I'll only be committed financially for a third of the expenses (but don't worry, I've got enough in the bank to cover expenses for many months). I fully anticipate that I will lose money on this but I'm not doing this to make money - this is just another great life experience.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you updated on who we get!

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

Thanks everyone, a lot of good advice here. I'm going to Pleasanton this Saturday to do the paperwork to get my owners license and to open my account. My trainer is on the lookout for a good claim for us, I'm going to trust him to pick a good horse - he's got a pretty good win % 1st off the claim but you never know... I'm going into this with my trainer and another good friend (she's owned horses previously) so I'll only be committed financially for a third of the expenses (but don't worry, I've got enough in the bank to cover expenses for many months). I fully anticipate that I will lose money on this but I'm not doing this to make money - this is just another great life experience.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you updated on who we get!

Who is your trainer?

[DerbyCat]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Who is your trainer?

Steve Sherman

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

Steve Sherman

Terrific. I like Steve alot. Good guy. Very accessable. Good trainer. Bob Bone and I had a horse with him named Walter Ringer. He did an excellent job.

Good luck.

[Duvalier]

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

Thanks everyone, a lot of good advice here. I'm going to Pleasanton this Saturday to do the paperwork to get my owners license and to open my account. My trainer is on the lookout for a good claim for us, I'm going to trust him to pick a good horse - he's got a pretty good win % 1st off the claim but you never know... I'm going into this with my trainer and another good friend (she's owned horses previously) so I'll only be committed financially for a third of the expenses (but don't worry, I've got enough in the bank to cover expenses for many months). I fully anticipate that I will lose money on this but I'm not doing this to make money - this is just another great life experience.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you updated on who we get!

Best of luck DerbyCat...should be fun.

[pgiaco]

Good Luck DC, get ready for a roller coaster ride that you will love almost every minute.

[freddymo]

Sherman learned from the best his dad. Wow they really do get them to feel great and run hard.

[Revidere]

Two interesting stories on the claiming game.

1. In 2002, a friend of mine claimed a filly named Dovey Lovey from Allen Jerkens. In her first start she won for $ 32,000 at Saratoga and needed surgery to repair her ankle. She made her first start at Belmont for $20,000 and never won again. She went down the ladder, Contessa couldn't even find a jock who would get on her. She had a very sad ending. They sold her for $2,500 after being told the new owner "loved her breeding potential" and wouldn't run her. They entered her at Charlestown and she broke down and was destroyed.

2. Recently, we tried to claim Royal War Academy for $25,000 after the horse won for $ 50,000. We were fearful at such a huge drop, but figured it was worth it. Just my luck, the horse was scratched and has since won twice in Pa. allowance races earning $ 66,000 !!!

As Vic says, proceed with caution!