If you’ve been around Wall Street or the investment world for five minutes, you’ve heard the old saying: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Very often, things come with a cost, a catch, or a hidden fee.

In horse racing, that happens as well. But when you look at how racetracks compete for horses across the national map, you run into one of the rarest setups in sports: a track willing to hand you extra prize money and a cash bonus just for pulling your horse trailer into their barn area, and racing during their meet.

They call it a Ship & Win program, and it’s about as close to a “free lunch” as a racehorse partnership is ever going to find.

Why Racetracks Hand Out “Free Money”

To understand why a racetrack would pay you just to show up, you have to understand how track economics work. A racetrack isn’t just a sporting venue; it’s a wagering marketplace. The lifeblood of that marketplace is “field size.” That’s the number of horses running in each race.

Bettors dislike small fields with four or five horses because the payouts are tiny. But when a race has nine, ten, or twelve horses, the betting pools explode. More horses equal more betting handle, which generates higher revenues for the track. It also appeals to those (like me) who are very light bettors, but enjoy the challenge of analyzing and winning.

So, to attract horses from other states and fill up their daily race cards, major tracks created Ship & Win incentives.

The mechanics are simple:

• Guaranteed Starter Bonuses: A flat cash check paid to the owner just for making an out-of-state horse’s first start at the meet.

• Purse Enhancements: A percentage boost added on top of whatever prize money the horse earns in its races.

Del Mar in Southern California pioneered the modern Ship & Win format back in 2011 to revive its summer field sizes, and it set off a trend across the country. Today, you see similar starter bonuses and shipping incentives popping up at tracks like Saratoga and the new Belmont Park in New York, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, and others. Particularly for meets like Del Mar, which is primarily a 2-month season from mid-July through Labor Day, providing some incentive helps all around.

Evaluating the “Free Lunch”

For a syndicate like ours (Claim To Fame Racing Club), looking at the national map through a Ship & Win lens is just smart business. And one of many ways in which we are trying to clearly differentiate our approach to the racehorse ownership business.

• The Upside: It boosts the earnings potential of a standard race without requiring your horse to step up into harder competition. The guaranteed starter bonus helps offset the cost of cross-country transport, while the extra purse percentage gives your partners a much higher return when your horse runs well.

• The Catch: It’s only a “free lunch” if the horse handles the trip. Shipping horses across state lines involves travel stress, climate adjustments, and new track surfaces. If a horse doesn’t settle in or dislikes the local dirt, those financial bonuses don’t mean much. That’s what we rely on our expert horsemen, Sam Wilensky and Victor Collazo, to weigh in making those decisions for us.

When we first raised “friends and family” capital for Claim To Fame Racing Club earlier this year, we felt compelled to devote a full page to it in our “pitch deck.” Here’s what that looked like.

As it turned out, the opportunities were even more diverse than that simple 3-city outline above. That picture at the top of this article, the one showing a multi-city trip that my wife noted looks a lot like the state of Kentucky (though that state was not one of the stops)? That is the path that one of our horses, the veteran runner Lure Him In, has taken since July.

He shipped to Del Mar and ran there and when that season ended, we shipped him to NY with plans to run in the Northeast at least once. But the races we targeted for him did not fill up, so our horsemen adjusted with the flow, so to speak. He ran at Laurel, did very well, and now joins the rest of our crew at our Gulfstream Park home base for the winter season. Unless, of course, an ideal race pops up for him elsewhere. That’s “Geographic Arbitrage!”

Keep in mind that many horses could not be “road warriors.” But “Big Lu,” who I featured in my last post here, is no ordinary horse. He’s a 9-year old inspiration. In the same way that my brother has logged so many airline miles during his career as a healthcare executive, I know it is more than I could handle.

But apparently, based on attitude and performance, some horses thrive on it. As the horseman always tell me, horses are as different as people. And frankly, while the horse cannot “tell” us what they think of the travel/no travel paradigm, they do in other ways.

Which is why horse care is the priority. No matter how much money might be on the line in some other state or city.

When we evaluated our own stable’s needs, cooler weather and strong racing setups, plus taking advantage of a circuit like Del Mar made complete sense for our runners. Sam has been racing there for years, and knows the territory. The ocean breezes provided a fantastic environment for the horses, and the Ship & Win economics made the trip worthwhile.

And, it doesn’t take a Ship & Win incentive for us to ship a horse to run somewhere else. Remember, South Florida, where we are most of the year, is at the southeast tip of the US. You can drive for 6-10 hours depending on direction, and STILL be in Florida! And Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs are the only two tracks in the state. Tampa runs about half the year, and GP all year round. So getting on the road is part of how we seek to gain a long-term edge.

To that end, here’s a segment of a partners update note I sent out several months ago, when we were looking at potentially running one of our horses at Penn National.

Race Day On The Road

Because our partner group is spread out across Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and beyond, shipping out West gave birth to what we call “California Streaming.”

When race day arrives in San Diego, everyone tunes in remotely. We pull up live video broadcasts on laptops and phones, fire off comments via text, and watch the odds shift right up until post time. When the starting gate opens, the adrenaline is identical whether you’re sitting in a grandstand box at the finish line or watching on a tablet from your kitchen counter 3,000 miles away. I’ve already (happily) responded to last-minute requests for “where can I watch the race live?”

We started this initial group as a small, closed partnership of friends and family to test our operational model and get our horses to the track. We aren’t taking on new investors right now.

Down the road, our goal is to open future partnership groups that bring more fans into the fold. Giving people a clear, transparent look at racehorse ownership without needing a fortune.

For now, the best way to experience what we’re doing is simple: follow along right here on the blog. And tell your friends and family that you think may be interested. It costs zero, and eventually we’ll be running events like “Owner for a Day” meetups at the track. Regardless of your interest level, we invite you to enjoy the ride with us.

Hey, I think I just told you the other free lunch in horse racing.

The gates are open, and we’re just getting started!

That picture is a second place photo from a random lower-end claiming race at the magnificent Del Mar race course, where Claim To Fame Racing Club lead trainer Sam Wilensky typically races in the summer. Sam, like his father for decades before him, has his primary operation out of Gulfstream Park. But between the higher summer purses in places like Del Mar and Saratoga, if you have the horses to run competitively there, it saves you and them some of the wear and tear of the South Florida summer.

That photo is likely not much of a memory for horse racing fans. But to those of us who navigated through a few months of a mystery injury, for a horse that seemed to have lost his desire to race, finishing third by a nose felt like winning on Breeder’s Cup day!

And, as I noted in that segment of a post to our partners later that day, being nosed out for second place meant $3,000 less purse winnings for that particular race. So if you’re looking for examples of the embedded and constant win-lose scenarios in this sport, there you have it! It prompted me to recall one of the great TV comedies I enjoyed growing up during the 1970s, Get Smart.

Swaggish: Can’t he just TELL US what’s going on?

When an athletic runner puts together a few of disappointing races in a row, you have to play detective. That’s what Sam did with Swaggish. After we claimed him, he had a couple of races where he broke cleanly from the gate, got into a perfect winning position near the lead... and then completely ran out of gas when asked to finish. He wasn’t getting beaten by faster horses. he was simply stalling out.

Sam went to work as the horseman on the ground. A thorough veterinary check revealed nothing that would explain that on-track performance. Like human pro atheletes, there’s always some minor issues with every horse. That’s why the training regimen for all horses includes things water therapy and detailed grooming on a regular basis. So nothing from the vet that would explain the sudden change in form for Swaggish. We had a healthy horse.

But in this case, all of the usual remedies that would typically cause a racehorse to jump back into form just were not working. It was maddening.

I took this picture when visiting the barn last spring, in the midst of this slump for our boy. Sam points to Swaggish in his stall and says, “take a look, I just fed him a little while ago, I’ll bet he’s already finished all his food.” If a horse is eating well, that’s a good sign.

Sure enough, I pointed the camera down at his bowl…”drain-O!” Sam then reminds me that from day one, this horse has done “everything right” in terms of training process.

So, what’s with him? This is not the horse we thought we claimed in Tampa last April, with 5 career wins and a body that looks poised to win some more.

There are so many variables in this game. And again, the horse won’t tell you. So, what do you do?

At the same time, we looked at his past racing records. Across his career, Swaggish consistently ran his fastest times in cool spring and late-fall weather at northern tracks like Woodbine in Canada or Churchill Downs in Kentucky. But in the boiling, humid summer heat of South Florida, his performance dropped off significantly.

That’s when Victor and Sam made the decision that turned it around. They dropped Swaggish to a low-level claiming race, where he ran like he used to. It was a shorter distance as well, which made a lot of sense even if it hadn’t worked, given the aforementioned issues.

Then, 4 weeks later we ran him back, again at Del Mar in San Diego, in a higher level claiming race than the previous one. Another third place finish!

Here’s what Swaggish told us, in looking back to his tough spring

NOTHING. Because horses can’t talk. And sometimes, they behave normally, 24/7. Then on race day, whatever issue they have comes out, in front of a crowd.

Swaggish is back at Gulfstream, likely hoping the weather cools off. But he’s back to form. And for a new stable, we are frankly grateful to have gone through this with him. Because this game is, if nothing else, a never-ending series of highs and lows.

“Wait for the shake.”

One of the things you learn as you go from “it would be fun to own claiming horses” to “what do you mean we didn’t get that horse?” is that claiming is really unlike any other part of a sport one experiences.

You see, any licensed owner can place a claim slip in the claim box before a claiming race at any racetrack. Once the race starts, if there’s at least one owner who agreed to purchase that horse at the predetermined claiming price for that race, they are walking away a few minutes later with that horse. With a red tag around their neck, indicating they have been claimed out of the race they just ran.

The owner who entered the horse in that race wins any purse money from that race. And they’ll get paid quickly for the sale of that horse. But just because you put in a claim, doesn’t mean you’ll get the horse. Even if you are the only one vying for the horse, you might not take them back to your barn.

After each race, a claimed horse is checked by the track veterinarian to make sure that the new owner is getting a healthy claiming horse. Such “voided” claims do not happen often. What is more likely these days, as claiming horses becomes more popular and thus more competitive, is the contest known as “the shake.”

I’ll conclude this post with a quick recap of our shake experience so far with Claim To Fame Racing Club. Sam and Victor, my partners, have done this for years. But for those of us with just a few years under our belts, or our club members who own claimers for the first time, this is a real eye-opener.

Speaking of that, while it is rude, crude and now part of ancient movie comedy history, I’ll share it anyway. This scene from Mel Brooks’ iconic 1981 History Of The World, Part 1 is one I just cannot get out of my brain each time Sam and Victor tell me “we are dropping a claim on horse XYZ in race X at Y track on this date.”

When you win a 13-way shake as we did for Swaggish at Tampa Bay Downs in the early going, as I described in an earlier post, the temptation is to think “we’re gonna win a lot more of these, and soon!” But as one club member keeps reminding us, for every one of those we win, we might lose 12 straight.

And that’s about how it went for us. A dry spell. Not unexpected, but when you find a horse and get yourself pumped up, with a forward-looking plan already being devised if you win the claim, finding out there is a shake is a minor source of pins and needles. Then when you lose them, over and over, and come to realize it is all part of the game, you can finally relax.

That took some of us about 3 months! But now, “waiting for the shake” is much more matter of fact. Over the weeks that followed the April longshot claim win for Swaggish, Sam (our head trainer) and Victor (our operating partner and CPA) scoured upcoming race schedules, analyzed past performances, and identified several runners that fit our budget and athletic criteria. We submitted claim slips on targeted horses, only to get knocked out in draw after draw.

That is the raw, unvarnished reality of building a stable through claiming races. You can do all the research in the world, spot a horse with massive potential, crunch the numbers, and walk away empty-handed because a numbered pill rolled the wrong way in a bottle. It takes patience, emotional discipline, and a willingness to keep showing up.

What if I don’t want to wait for the shake?!

Hey, claiming is how we’re starting Claim To Fame Racing Club. But there are many other ways to acquire a racehorse. Auctions, private sales, and even breeding your own. We’ll discuss all of that here in the coming weeks and months.

In fact, other than Swaggish, we have currently purchased 3 other horses. One was acquired through a claiming race with no shake. No one else had any interest in him. That’s another upcoming post topic.

Yet another was acquired through a private sale. Again, I’ll reserve that story for its own post. It deserves one.

And, earlier this month, after losing shake after shake at racing offices in multiple states, we finally had those racing lords bestow upon us…a win in a 5-way shake! Some would say we got lucky. In our minds, after months of adventure in the claiming game, WE WERE DUE!

That’s a picture of Swaggish, happy as ever, in his barn stall earlier this month. But the process involved in how we claimed him out of a spring race at Tampa Bay Downs, as well as the ups and downs since that time, is a story. So here’s that story.

The Claim Game

To understand how middle-market racehorse ownership works, you have to understand the claiming box. Over 70% of all races in North America are claiming races, meaning every horse in the field has a literal price tag. If you want the horse, your trainer drops a written claim slip into a locked box before the gates open. The second the gates open, if at least one owner has entered a claim slip for a horse, barring a “voided claim,” the horse belongs to that new owner. No matter how the horse does in that race.

The previous owner earns the money from the horse’s finish in that claiming race, but the horse leaves the track wearing a red “claim tag.” And the new trainer escorts their new acquisition to their new barn.

This is what makes the claiming game the most liquid aspect of race horse ownership. And why claiming syndicates tend to attract people who motivation includes being able to see their horses run more frequently.

As my friend Howie Heiberger, Managing Partner of In Front Racing Stables, who helped introduce me to the claiming game told me, “for the horse racing fans who want lots of action, claiming gives them that.” So true!

How Swaggish Ended Up Wearing Our Silks

When our syndicate set out to acquire our first runner, we targeted a 5-year-old named Swaggish. We liked the fact that he has competed well with stronger horses than the $20,000 claiming level he was racing at that April day at Tampa Bay Downs. We also liked his speed figures and his physical build. That his name was pretty cool was not a factor in the decision, but it certainly was a positive point!

But we weren’t the only ones.

When the race ended, 13 different trainers had dropped claim slips on the same horse. In racing, when multiple people claim the same runner, it comes down to a “shake.”

The track stewards put 13 numbered pills into a plastic bottle, shake it up, and pull one out. Whoever’s number pops out walks away with the horse.

Against a 13-to-1 shot in the racing office, our pill came up. Just like that, we were in business. If we still read physical newspapers and took photos with cameras that were just cameras, I might have this framed on my office wall. But instead, I cut-and-pasted this here.

It is a digital “souvenier” of the event that made me a racehorse owner. Along with several experienced owners and others like me who were new to this part of the game.

How it started, how its going

What happened with Swaggish over the next few months was, in retrospect, exactly what those of us who are not lifelong horsemen needed. I’ll continue the Swaggish story in an upcoming post.

As of this writing, he’s still a happy member of our stable, as you saw in the picture at the top of this article. But this is claiming, where you control which horses you own, buy and sell. Up to a point, that is.

What’s This Guy Doing Here?

I spend most of my working week writing about investing at my other Substack, ETFYourself.com, running an investing service and writing at Barchart.com. I’ve had a 40-year Wall Street career, and retired from direct investment advisory in 2020.

So, what’s this about? Well, I also like introducing people to things that bring genuine excitement, energy, and fun into life. And for me, one of those things is horse racing.

I’m a $1 wagerer, not a hardcore “horseplayer.” But the sport, the game, the culture, the morning atmosphere, the camaraderie, and the rivalries? That all gets me going!

So, while I still spent lots of time as I have for decades, sitting in front of screens analyzing data and charts and writing about my views, I recently added a “hat.” Writing about horse racing, and teaming up with a couple of great young horsemen to start a business that owns racehorses. Put it all together, mix it around, and that’s “semi-retirement” as I define it.

Why Start a Substack About Horse Racing?

To help expand the game. Like so many people who love horse racing, I don’t just think other sports fans would enjoy it if they gave it a chance—I KNOW they would.

But they have to be shown what this sport really is.

Horse racing is so much more than two minutes on the first Saturday in May. It’s more than gambling on the next race. And it’s vastly more than the negative headlines you sometimes see in industry news. There are plenty of “moments” in this game. But behind those moments, is a whole entertainment experience that when people experience it, they often come back for more. I was one of those.

This site is about speaking directly to people who have already “leaned in” just a bit toward the sport, from whatever angle they choose. So I’m here to help the sport build a “coalition of the willing”—fans, casual wagerers, and maybe even folks who want to experience what it feels like to own a small slice of a racehorse without needing a fortune to do it.

Horse racing is the ultimate spectator sport:

• An outdoor game where women and men compete head-to-head on equal terms.

• An industry powered by tireless work behind the scenes that rarely gets the spotlight.

• A sport where you can ask five different people why they love it, and get five completely different answers.

What’s Coming Next

Later this week, I’m launching a new series that pulls back the curtain on what it’s actually like to get racehorses to post time.

To be clear: there is zero pitch here. Earlier this year, a few partners and I launched a small syndicate to own a portfolio of claiming horses, but it was strictly a “friends and family” initial group, and it is completely closed.

Instead of selling anything, I’m using this blog to tell the story of our first season. The stories behind the horses we acquired, the frustrating missed “shakes” in the racing office, the travel decisions, and the sheer thrill of race day.

Between my background as an analyst and communicator, our head trainer who lives on the backstretch every day, and our partner who is both a practicing CPA and a former assistant trainer, we’ve had a front-row seat to how a stable actually operates. I’ve learned a lot from them already, had a ton of laughs, and experienced the raw ups and downs of the game.

I’m inviting you to follow along as I document the journey

We’ll blend our stable stories with casual handicapping picks just for fun, conversations with great people across the industry, and whatever else keeps the sport exciting.

This is my blog, but it’s your community. Let’s do our little part to enjoy and share the sport we love.

Welcome aboard!

— Rob Isbitts

The sport of horse racing has a rich history, many family legacies, and yes, some nagging issues. So as I see it, a success story involving younger people in horse racing who are not yet household names is one worth telling. In this particular case, the subject of that story is the lead trainer of the racing syndicate I co-founded earlier this year, Claim To Fame Racing Club.

It involves a onetime claimer by the name of Drop A Hint. The trainer is Sam Wilensky, who along with his father Herman, a decades-long veteran trainer himself, turned an eye for value into what horse players call a “life-changing score.” And that makes this latest entry into our Hall of Claim one I’m especially gratified to have seen take place. Because truly, it could not happen to a nicer family.

Here’s the story

The horse was originally purchased back in 2018 for $250,000 by another owner, at the same September yearling sale that her offspring sold at earlier this year. Drop a Hint debuted as a 2-year old at Saratoga that next summer (2019).

After a 5-race run to start her career, in which she hit the board just once, then-trainer Todd Pletcher entered her in a $25,000 claiming race at Gulfstream Park in January of 2020, about a month before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived. That’s where the journey really started.

Sam, operating out of his South Florida home base, from the very same barn his father occupied for decades, dropped a claim for Drop a Hint. Because it seems nothing happens in horse racing without a little bit of luck along the way, he won the claim in a 3-way shake.

From that point on, “Drops of Jupiter” might have been a better description, as this horse became a mega-hit of her own. 15 races over the next 24 months, 10 times in the money (3 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds), and over $150,000 in purse earnings. That included a third place finish in the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes on 10/10/2020, despite going off as a 47-1 longshot.

Wilensky retired Drop A Hint after her final race on 2/12/2022, where she closed out her racing career in style, winning the Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. About to turn 5 years old, she was sent to do what mares often do: make babies.

Annually for a few years, for a $75,000 breeding fee, Drop A Hint was paired up for breeding. In this case, while the first two are making their way through the ranks, the third time was the charm. She was bred to Cody’s Wish, an inspiring national-headlines story himself, who won 11 of 16 career races, including multiple Grade 1 contests.

As they say on Seinfeld, yada yada yada…last week that third child of Drop A Hint sold at the Keeneland Yearling sale. Multiple buyers noticed Hip #206, and the bidding became competitive.

When it was done, the yearling sold for $850,000. And while her story is not over, and Sam Wilensky’s training career is just starting to hit its “hockey stick” era, what’s clear is this: Both on track and off, Drop A Hint is an easy call to add to our Hall of Claim.

What’s next for Sam Wilensky’s stable?

Well, here’s Sam this morning. Two days after that magical day at Keeneland, there’s Sam, 700 miles east of Lexington, KY at the brand new Belmont Park. That’s Sam and the rider with one of our Claim To Fame Racing Club barn members, Lure Him In, a horse Sam has played a central role in making a $760,000+ career earner. And he’s still a hard-knocking dude at 9 years old.

As you can see, we’ll be as active at Belmont as the opportunities permit us to be. Along with Gulfstream Park and anywhere else we think our growing stable can compete and win.

As experienced horsemen like Sam and Herman Wilensky know, you work your a%$ off, you keep at it, and you treat people with the utmost respect. Whether they are owners, jockeys, grooms, farriors or strangers. And with perserverence, time, learning more every single day, and putting the horse FIRST, you just might end up telling your story to someone like another next-gen industry leader, Gabby Gaudet. Here’s her interview with Sam right after that life-altering Keeneland moment.

Coming Up Next

We’ll have a lot more on Claim To Fame Racing Club’s story in the coming days, weeks and months. We are all about expanding the reach of thoroughbred racing, to include a wide range of fans and owners of all ages, backgrounds and interests.

This sport unites us. And we’re charting our own course in a way we hope shines a most positive, transparent and inclusive light on racehorse ownership, and the pure enjoyment we all get from it.

If you want to keep up with what we’re doing, follow us here at HorseClaiming.com on Substack.

HorseClaiming.com has been up and running for several months. Thanks to all those who have come aboard for our “maiden” journey into making the sport, game and lifestyle of horse racing more accessible. And relatable. And fun.

Oh, and if things go well on the track, you can make some money. Either from owning a “portfolio” of horses like we do, at a more modest dollar commitment level compared to many existing syndicates. Or, from wagering on the races.

If you’ve read any of my “investment manager/race horse owner crossover” articles on horse racing at Barchart.com, or my post here at HorseClaiming.com, including my guides to the game, “Hall of Claim” series and others, you know one thing: this is a fun way to engage in a sport that everyone knows about on the surface. But when they get to know it better, they find their own, personalized way to enjoy it.

To that end, when my partner in Claim to Fame Racing Club, a new race horse ownership syndicate we built with trainer Sam Wilensky to expand opportunities, access and enjoyment of the game beyond the traditional high-end crowd, I came to realize that Victor Collazo, a CPA these days, is not just my partner. As a former trainer and lifelong horseman, he can read a racing form like you’d expect accountant could - very well!

That doesn’t always translate to “winning picks,” but the fun of this game is just that. The game! So when Victor send me his Travers Day picks for Saratoga today, with a very fancy presentation to boot, I told him “I have to post this to the Substack site!” So here it is, for you entertainment and enjoyment purposes.

And, below “Vic’s Picks” you will find my own. A quick and dirty effort, I will say. But part of the expanded content I’ll be posting here very soon. Including telling the startup and ongoing story of our Claim To Fame Racing Club.

I hope you enjoy perusing this as much as we did creating it! And hey, if you do bet, bet responsibly, eh?

This is the first time I’ve written about the mission and excitement going on at The Real Players Inside The Backstretch…but it won’t be the last.

Getting to know the energized, growing team there here in Saratoga this month, I have made it my personal mission to do whatever I can to help them shed light on the heroes behind the horses, the backstretch workers, trainers, jockeys and my fellow racehorse owners. And, to shine the brightest lights possible on their grass roots effort to expand the tent, bringing in the next generation of horse racing fans and friends.

When I saw this, one of hundreds of on-site interviews with people from every corner of the modern horse racing industry, I just had to offer to be useful, in any way I can. They are social media moguls already. And I’m a writer. So it was a natural for me to combine this post featuring some rising starts of the game, along with what I’ve written about here often: the vital and leading role women have and will play in the sport.

Here’s the original post from them, followed below by my merger with that interview into the broader topic of women in racing, and the full Substack text below that.

Enjoy!

REAL Players of the Backstretch clip, you saw three young women, recent college graduates and summer interns at the aptly-named The Saratoga Special, talking about their future in horse racing. They aren’t just looking for a job—they are each walking their own paths toward making an impact on the sport.

Did I say walking? Watch the clip. As you will see, they are not walking, they’re running.

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As with so many stories we bring you from the backstretch, this is one of the things about racing that makes it special. Even when the “special” is happening outside of Saratoga. It is a rarity in sports: women compete directly against men on identical terms.

This is not new. But like so many of the everyday heroes we profile here, it is a part of the game that is often lost in the headlines of multi-million dollar races and record-setting auctions. When Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby (and five weeks later, the Belmont Stakes), backstretch nation thought “yeah, you should see how women do the other 6 days of the week!”

The Trailblazers Who Paved the Way

For decades, women had to fight just to get licensed. Once the doors cracked open, they proved that horsemanship isn’t about raw physical power—it’s about balance, timing, and communication. Not chromosomes.

• Diane Crump (1970): Became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, breaking a massive gender barrier at Churchill Downs.

• Julie Krone (1993): Showed the world women can win at the highest level by becoming the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race (the Belmont Stakes). She later entered the Hall of Fame.

• The Equine Superstars: It’s not just human athletes. Fillies like Rachel Alexandra and Rags to Riches regularly step out of female-only divisions to crush the best colts in the country in races like the Preakness and Belmont.

Passing the Torch to the Next Gen

Today, the modern backstretch is driven by women at every level. Trainers like Cherie DeVaux and Jena Antonucci (the first woman to train a Belmont Stakes winner) are running powerhouse, multi-million-dollar stables. And female jockeys, from Katie Davis and Chantal Sutherland, to Melissa Iorio, Kelsi Harr and Sara Hess, continue to inspire young women to enter and enjoy the sport.

Horse racing media has been enhanced by the pioneering leadership of people like Caton Bredar, Donna Brothers and Christina Blacker. The New York Racing Association (NYRA)’s CFO, Chief Legal Counsel, and HR Director are women.

When you watch those three young women in the REAL Players clip, you aren’t just watching an interview. You’re watching the next chapter of racing history unfold. They are stepping onto a track built by generations of fierce, talented women—and they’re ready to run right past the boys.

How it started: September 17, 2021, at Churchill Downs (Claimed for $30,000 by trainer Eric Reed for RED TR-Racing). Rich Strike debuted a month earlier in a maiden special weight (MSW) race at Ellis Park. He finished 10th in that race. Proving that there’s more than one way to scout claiming horses. And as they say in the industry I spent decades in (investing), “past performance is not a guarantee of future results.”

How its going: Rich Strike will forever be etched in racing history after winning the Kentucky Derby as an 80-1 “very” long shot in 2022. And will forever make it so that I cannot see Sonny Leon’s name in a current entry and not immediately think back to that magical moment.

Here’s How It Happened

• The Humble Beginnings: Bred by Calumet Farm and trained initially by Joe Sharp, after that rough debut on turf, Calumet dropped him into a $30,000 maiden claiming race on dirt at Churchill Downs in September 2021.

• The Turning Point: Trainer Eric Reed and owner Rick Dawson saw past his turf debut, noting his strong dirt workouts. They dropped a $30,000 claim slip and won a 2-way shake. Rich Strike romped by more than 17 lengths that afternoon—the best $30,000 Reed ever spent.

• The Historic Ascent: After grinding through the 3-year-old prep trail at Turfway Park, Rich Strike drew into the 2022 Kentucky Derby as an last-minute eligible scratch on Friday morning. Starting from post 20 at astronomical 80-1 odds, jockey Sonny Leon wove through a suicidal pace to pull off the second-biggest upset in Derby history. Here’s the replay:

• The Legacy: Rich Strike became the first horse claimed out of a maiden claiming race to ever win the Kentucky Derby, generating over $2.5 million in total purse earnings from a $30,000 claim box slip.

As you can see above, Rich Strike’s career is about as much of a “bottom line” story as we’ll see in this sport. Did he have a long successful career, filled with stakes wins? No. Did he provide an amazing return on that claiming investment? Of course.

This is a bottom line business. Translation: if you reach the winners’s circle in the biggest race of the year, the rest is all details, eh?

That’s why Rich Strike is an easy call for entry into our Hall of Claim!

This entry to HorseClaiming.com’s Hall of Claim is the story of a hard-knocking west coast horse that became a millionaire asset for an iconic TV host.

“Alex, I’ll take Hall of Claim for $400, please”

The answer is: Reba’s Gold

“Who was a $28,000 claimer at Fairplex Park who on September 19, 1999 was purhased for a pedestrian $28,000 by trainer Dan Hendricks for owner Creston Farms (Alex Trebek’s 724 acre farm in Creston, California)?”

• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by Slew o’ Gold, Reba’s Gold was a late-maturing colt who wallowed in the lower-tier claiming brackets of the California fair circuit. Operating under exposed sprint form, he was entered for a modest $28,000 tag on the tight, bullring turns of Fairplex Park.

• The Turning Point: Recognizing that the colt’s physical frame and pedigree were completely unsuited for short bullring sprints, trainer Dan Hendricks dropped the winning slip. The moment Reba’s Gold entered his new barn, Hendricks immediately transitioned him to two-turn, long-distance routes on major tracks.

• The Historic Ascent: The surface and distance change worked wonders. Reba’s Gold transformed into an incredibly durable graded-stakes competitor. Over the next four years, he went toe-to-toe with the finest handicap horses in the country, hitting the board in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, the Grade 1 Goodwood, and capturing a definitive victory in the Grade 3 Seabiscuit Handicap.

• The Legacy: Reba’s Gold retired with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in purse equity, delivering an astronomical return on a $28,000 fair circuit claim. He later transitioned into a successful regional stallion career, passing on his trademark structural durability.

Reba’s Gold became a “Jeopardy champion” of horse racing. And a reminder that even today, all it takes is some vision, a change of venue and strategy, hard work and a bit of luck. Because this type of rags-to-riches story is one we see happen continously in the horse racing business.

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Our latest inductee to the Hall of Claim is Brass Hat. The Hall of Claim recognizes some of the greatest stories in the history of horse racing that started with a horse being claimed out of a race. Just as they are every day now. Because you never know.

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The Race: January 29, 2004, at Turfway Park (Entered for a $15,000 price tag in a $1 mile Maiden Claiming event)

• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by Prized and out of the Dixie Brass mare Brassy, Brass Hat was bred and owned by small-scale operator Albert Bradley and conditioned by his son, trainer Buff Bradley. Needing a tight, competitive route to build authentic lung capacity and cardiovascular fitness without facing top-tier unexposed prospects, his connections made the incredibly risky move of debuting the homebred colt under a cheap $15,000 claiming tag at Turfway Park.

• The Turning Point: Running over a muddy track at one mile, Brass Hat showed immense closing potential, launching a wide rally to finish a strong second behind a horse named This Is the King. Because Albert Bradley owned the colt, any rival stable could have dropped a $15,000 slip and stolen a future superstar before the gates opened. Fortunately for the Bradleys, nobody shook down for him that afternoon. The race served as his ultimate fitness launchpad; he returned to Turfway less than a month later to break his maiden in a Maiden Special Weight.

• The Historic Ascent: Brass Hat immediately proved that elite talent can hide in humble places, rapidly climbing from the winter claiming ranks straight into the graded stakes deep end. He became a giant of the handicap division, capturing the Grade 2 Ohio Derby, the Grade 2 Indiana Derby, and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, where he set a blistering, long-standing track record for 1 1/8 miles (1:47.79). He also traveled across the globe to finish second on the wire in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.

• The Legacy: Brass Hat retired with over $2.1 million in total earnings, proving that an equine athlete exposed to a cheap maiden claiming tag could mature into an international titan. He spent his long retirement as a beloved pasture companion at the Bradley farm in Kentucky—an enduring, grassroots symbol of the claiming game’s ultimate dream.

If you like the Hall of Claim series, let us know, and tell a friend about HorseClaiming.com We can fill a “virtual museum” with some of the best underdog stories in sports!

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Lava Man (photo credit: America’s Best Racing

Our latest inductee to the Hall of Claim is Lava Man. The Hall of Claim recognizes some of the greatest stories in the history of horse racing that started with a horse being claimed out of a race. Just as they are every day now. Because you never know.

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• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by the unheralded Slew City Slew, Lava Man was so overlooked early on that he began his career at a county fair meet in a $12,500 maiden claiming race, finishing fourth at odds of 35-1.

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• The Turning Point: Recognizing raw physical capability beneath an unpolished surface, Doug O’Neill dropped a $50,000 claim slip on the gelding during a mile turf race at Del Mar in August 2004. It would go down as one of the greatest claims in thoroughbred history.

• The Historic Ascent: Lava Man didn’t just step up in class; he completely redefined versatility. He became the first and only horse in racing history to win Grade 1 races on three distinct surfaces: traditional dirt, turf, and synthetic polytrack.

• The Legacy: He matched the great Native Diver by winning three consecutive editions of the Hollywood Gold Cup (2005–2007) and retired with over $5.2 million in earnings—the ultimate $50k investment. After his racing days, “The Coach” returned to the track as O’Neill’s lead stable pony, famously escorting another champion, I’ll Have Another, to his Kentucky Derby and Preakness victories.

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If you like the Hall of Claim series, let us know, and tell a friend about HorseClaiming.com We can fill a “virtual museum” with some of the best underdog stories in sports!

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Circuit Leaderboard (5/18-5/24)

The Memorial Day holiday block unleashed high-velocity trading across national claim boxes. With three-day holiday handle injecting peak liquidity into regional wagering pools and the historic Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga launching on June 4, premier stables aggressively reshuffled their active rosters. High-percentage networks capitalized on deep cards to drop exposed form, secure grass talent, and optimize backstretch stall space ahead of upcoming boutique summer meet migrations.

Circuit Leaderboard (Monday–Sunday Composite)

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Big Stories, Week Preview

1. Premium Sprint Firefights at Aqueduct Recapped

New York’s premium optional claiming tier took center stage over the holiday weekend as an elite dirt sprint field went to war for a $62,500 tag at Belmont @ Big A. The highly rated Spun and Won drew massive target attention from multiple leading barns looking for high-end speed. The winning slip belonged to Linda Rice, who intends to leverage the gelding’s tactical velocity to capture massive starter-allowance prize books when the summer circuit transitions north to Saratoga next week.

2. The Holiday “Ship-and-Win” Migration Acceleration

Holiday race cards featured an expansive array of starter handicaps explicitly designed to lure out-of-state talent. Operations preparing for the high-dollar summer programs at Del Mar, Saratoga, and Monmouth Park used this weekend as their final launchpad. Scouts reported a 24% spike in inter-state claims, with mid-Atlantic and Kentucky outfits aggressively picking up turf routers to immediately ship into primary summer stabling blocks.

3. Look-Ahead Preview: The Pre-Saratoga Calms & Capital Shuffles

As we march into the upcoming final pre-Saratoga weekend block, expect a rapid tactical shift. Entry coordinators at Aqueduct and Churchill report that entry boxes are heavily saturated with turf sophomores entered for $40,000 to $50,000 price points. Stables are aggressively fluidizing older dirt inventory this week to generate necessary purchasing liquidity for what is projected to be the most active Saratoga claim box opening in NYRA history.

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Industry Pulse & The Manual

The Entertainment & Spectacle Side

Memorial Day weekend generated record public turnouts across trackside festivals nationwide. Capitalizing on the casual holiday crowds, regional micro-syndicates hosted interactive paddock walks and low-barrier investor seminars. The accessible entry point of mid-tier claiming partnerships saw a 26% bump in new public shareholder registrations over the three-day stretch.

Industry News: Advanced Soundness Benchmarks

HISA’s technology division confirmed Sunday that its paddock-integrated, AI-powered mobile gait analysis systems have successfully cleared a milestone of 18,000 spring evaluations. This non-invasive structural screening framework has driven post-race claim voiding down by 14% year-over-year, giving buyers maximum mechanic confidence when dropping a slip this week.

📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: Factoring the “Sweeping Turn” Structural Upgrade

When evaluating performance profiles for horses claimed over the holiday weekend or transitioning into upcoming cards, filter out runners whose recent past performances feature poor finishing positions on tight, bullring-style winter layouts.

• The Logic: Large-framed, long-striding turf routers require immense forward momentum to maintain top speed. On tight, compact turns, these athletes are forced to constantly tap on the brakes or lose ground by drifting wide. When transitioned to spacious tracks with sweeping, expansive turns, their stride efficiency skyrockets.

• The Play: Target a runner that showed an empty finish when wide on a tight-turning layout, and look to drop your slip or back them at the windows the moment they shift to a roomier, wide-sweeping grass course. You will capture a peak-fit athlete whose physical profile is completely optimized for a massive forward form cycle.

📋APPENDIX: FRESH BACKSTRETCH GLOSSARY

• Boutique Meet: A highly prestigious, condensed racing season held at a premier summer venue (e.g., Saratoga or Del Mar) featuring vastly elevated purses, intense field density, and premium bloodstock activity.

• Condition Book: The official schedule published by the racing secretary detailing the specific eligibility rules, distance parameters, and financial structures for upcoming races, serving as a trainer’s operational map.

• Exposed Form: A horse’s transparent, well-documented racing history and performance data that indicates its current competitive ceiling has been fully realized, often prompting connections to drop it into a claiming tag.

• Liquidity Surge: A rapid influx of operational wagering handle or transient stable capital that deepens local betting pools, making it highly advantageous to execute strategic asset transactions.

• Starter Allowance: A lucrative, protected race category reserved for horses that have started under a specific claiming price tag within a designated timeframe, allowing owners to run for premium purses without risking the horse being purchased.

⏭️ NEXT WEEK

Next week, we'll preview Saratoga's Belmont Week meet and cover claiming activity from around the country. See you next Monday!

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Last Week’s Circuit Leaderboard (May 11–17)

The racing landscape went through a massive structural shift over the last seven days. While Triple Crown attention was fixed on Laurel Park for the 151st Preakness Stakes, the claiming boxes nationwide experienced a major spring surge. With signature summer meets at Saratoga, Del Mar, and Colonial Downs rapidly approaching, trainers utilized the weekend’s high-liquidity cards to aggressively restructure their stables, leading to high-volume actions across key jurisdictions.

Circuit Leaderboard (Monday–Sunday):

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Big Stories & The Week Ahead

1. The Laurel Park Preakness Handle Squeeze

With Pimlico closed for its historic $400 million modernization project, Laurel Park took center stage for the Preakness Stakes undercards this weekend. This temporary relocation sparked an unprecedented influx of regional claiming entries. Local Maryland mainstays faced heavy pressure from incoming New York and Pennsylvania outfits, creating massive betting pools and driving up premium optional claiming valuations across the entire weekend schedule. To us at HorseClaiming.com, we’re glad any time the middle-class circuit of the sport drives excitment and interest. And yes, wagering handle too.

2. Sophomores Kept Under Wraps for Saratoga

A clear strategic pattern emerged among high-end stables over the weekend: a protective “valuation hold” on top-tier three-year-olds. With several classic contenders bypassing Baltimore to point directly toward the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 6, trainers heavily protected their $50,000 allowance-optional sophomores. Instead of exposing these ready-to-run assets to the claim box, connections are safeguarding their rosters to maximize upcoming boutique undercard entries.

3. Flat-Fee Assessment Model Demonstrates Clear Success

Data compiled through Sunday confirms that the industry’s widespread alignment with the 2026 HISA Starts-Only assessment model has dramatically stabilized race entry depth. By charging a flat, highly predictable fee per race start rather than extracting an unpredictable percentage from earned purse capital, mid-sized outfits reported significantly cleaner operational margins when running fit, older claiming horses on short rest.

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Industry Pulse & The Manual

• The ‘Show’ — Syndicate Expansion at Laurel: The true spectacle of the weekend was found inside Laurel’s boutique “Preakness Village.” The intimate layout gave fractional ownership groups and classic claiming syndicates direct paddock access, driving a massive spike in newly registered authorized agents ahead of the high-dollar summer “Ship-and-Win” programs.

• Industry News — Safety Metrics Trend Upward: HISA released its updated tracking data through mid-May, highlighting that widespread implementation of mobile AI paddock gait screenings alongside strict joint-therapy stand-down mandates has reduced post-race claim voiding by 14% year-over-year. Now in its seventh year of operation, HISA is regularly putting “points on the board” in terms of safety and documented results. That’s always good for the industry.

📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “First-Time Gelding” Angle

As the ambient spring humidity begins to rise heading into late May, scrupulously scan your daily entry programs for the (G) or “First-Time Gelding” notation on three-year-olds dropping down from straight maiden fields.

• The Logic: Young, distracted colts frequently find 3 to 5 lengths of hidden physical and mental improvement immediately following the sport’s ultimate structural change (to put it mildly).

• The Play: If an outfit drops a well-bred sophomore from a Maiden Special Weight down to a $30,000–$45,000 Maiden Claiming tag precisely on his first start as a gelding, they aren’t executing a fire sale. They are trying to quickly cash a check while the horse is clear-headed. Drop your slip before his improved form resets his value out of your price bracket.

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Weekend Composite (May 8–10)

The first full weekend following the 152nd Kentucky Derby saw the “Industrial Engine” of the sport shift its focus toward Baltimore. While the stars of the show began their vanning toward Laurel Park (this year’s Preakness host), the claim boxes at Churchill Downs and Belmont at the Big A remained white-hot. Stables are aggressively retooling their rosters, dropping sound veterans to free up stall space for the incoming summer inventory.

Circuit Leaderboard (Mon–Sun Recap):

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: Three Big Stories from the Weekend

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1. The Linda Rice “Interstate Raid”

While the eyes of the world were on Louisville, Linda Rice spent the weekend fortifying her regional “feeder” system. By snatching a pair of New York-bred sprinters at Churchill Downs, Rice is telegraphing a strategy of utilizing the Kentucky spring circuit to prep assets for the lucrative Saratoga meet. This “reverse-shipping” tactic targets horses that can take advantage of NYRA’s restricted state-bred supplements.

2. Pretty Boy Miah Moves into Preakness Field

In the most dramatic development for the $100k+ “Super-Claimer” class, the gelding Pretty Boy Miah secured the 14th and final spot in the GI Preakness Stakes on Sunday following late defections. For those scouting the high-end maiden claiming ranks, this is a masterclass in ROI; a horse that spent its winter in Aqueduct claiming-optionals is now headed for the second leg of the Triple Crown at Laurel Park.

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3. The HISA “Veterinarians’ List” Stability

On May 8, HISA issued a critical Equine Health Advisory focused on horses previously placed on the Vets’ List for unsoundness. For claimers, this provides a data-driven safety net. Professional scouts are now using these HISA guidelines as a specific checklist for acquisitions in the $15k–$40k ranks, signaling a “confidence boost” in the market for horses with prior list history.

[ 3 ] SHOW: The Spectacle & The Manual

• The ‘Show’ — Laurel Park’s Boutique Preakness: The entertainment focus shifts 600 miles east! While Pimlico undergoes its massive reconstruction, the “Show” moves to Laurel Park. This year features a boutique, up-close atmosphere with the “Preakness Village” offering unprecedented access to the saddling area. For claimers, the real spectacle is this Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan Day, which historically features the highest-quality $50,000 claiming fields of the spring.

• Industry News — HISA Lasix Continuity: The HISA Board of Directors voted last week to maintain the status quo for Lasix (furosemide) in non-stakes races through at least 2026. This provides massive stability for owners of mid-level veterans, ensuring their stock remains eligible for medication support throughout the humid summer circuits.

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📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “Season Opener” Angle With tracks like Monmouth Park and Finger Lakes now operational, look for “Ship-and-Win” entrants from winter hubs.

• The Logic: A horse that was “stuck” in the ultra-competitive Florida winter cycles often finds a 5-to-10 point Beyer boost when moving to a fresh, local circuit.

• The Play: If a trainer ships a horse from a $25k race in Florida to a $15k race at a northern opener, they are hunting for a “Soft Landing” win. Grab them before the local market adjusts to their superior fitness.

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What a Kentucky Derby Day! Heck, the whole week was amazing. But nothing topped the weekend’s biggest story. Trainer Cherie DeVaux is now known outside of her family and her industry. The first female to win the Derby, with Golden Tempo and Jose Ortiz aboard, reminds us of one my favorite things about this horse racing. It is where females can compete head-to-head with the males.

And whether it is trainers like Cherie, jockeys like Katie Davis and many others, and fillies like Always a Runner, who won the Oaks Friday with that same Ortiz brother aboard, racing is a sport where women shine, and lead. The more the industry does to highlight those accomplishments, and bring more women into the sport, the better its chances of thriving, not simply surviving.

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We’ve moved this blog to a weekly publication, to make room for some varied insights I’m looking forward to bringing to you, starting this week. Now, to the WEEKLY claimer.

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: The Week That Was (4/27–5/03)

The claiming world just moved through its most volatile seven-day cycle of the year. While the Triple Crown focus was on the stars, the sport’s middle class engine was fueled by high-end roster churn as stables cleared space for summer campaigns. We saw a record-breaking number of claims at Churchill Downs during the Derby Week festivities, alongside a surge in turf-sprint acquisitions at Belmont at the Big A.

Circuit Leaderboard (Weekly Composite):

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Big Stories & The Look-Ahead

1. The “Post-Derby” Stall Vacuum: As of this morning, over 100 horses are being vanned out of Louisville to make room for Preakness contenders and the summer migration to Saratoga/Del Mar. This creates a 48-hour “Buyer’s Market” (Mon-Tue) where trainers often drop tags to $10k–$20k just to avoid vanning costs.

2. The Maryland-Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) Speculation: Following CDI’s $85M acquisition of the Preakness Intellectual Property, scouts are aggressively targeting Maryland-bred claimers this week. The anticipation is that CDI will introduce a “Ship-and-Win” bonus for horses moving between Churchill and Pimlico, potentially raising the residual value of Mid-Atlantic stock by 15% by 2027.

3. The Turf Sprint “Premium”: Looking ahead to this weekend’s cards at New York and Santa Anita, we expect a bidding war for grass specialists. With Linda Rice and Tom Morley leading the charge, expect $40k–$50k turf sprinters to see 5+ slips in the box as stables secure their “Saratoga anchors.”

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Industry Pulse & The Manual

• Industry News – HISA “Starts-Only” Model: The 2026 HISA budget is now fully operational under the “Starts-Only” fee model. For the upcoming week, owners should factor in a predictable, flat line item per race, removing the percentage-of-purse overhead. This transparency is currently encouraging more aggressive multi-stable partnerships.

• Scouting Intel – Digital Vetting: We observed a significant increase in the use of Thermal Gait Imaging during the Derby undercard. This technology is now standard for $50k+ claims, allowing scouts to identify “silent” inflammation before the horse even enters the paddock.

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📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “First-Time Gelding” Graduation

Keep an eye on the mid-week regional cards (Parx/Will Rogers). Scan for the (G) or “First Time Gelding” equipment change.

• The Logic: A distracted 3-year-old colt often finds 2–4 lengths of improvement immediately after being gelded.

• The Play: If a trainer drops a horse from “Maiden Special” to “Maiden Optional” for their first start as a gelding, they are usually trying to secure a win before the horse becomes too professional and too expensive to keep. It’s the ultimate “Win-and-Lose” strategy for savvy claimers.

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📋 APPENDIX: The Claimer’s Glossary

APPENDIX: THE 2026 CLAIMER’S GLOSSARY

• 100% Bonus Depreciation: A key provision of the OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Act) of 2025 that allows owners to deduct the full purchase price of a horse in the first year of service—making claiming horses a premier tax-mitigation tool.

• HERF (HISA Equine Recovery Foundation): A new 501(c)(3) nonprofit launched in early 2026 dedicated to providing critical assistance for Thoroughbreds that sustain career-ending injuries.

• Proximal Hindlimb Advisory: A 2026 HISA health directive that identifies key biomechanical risk factors; trainers now use wearable biometric sensors to flag these risks before a race.

• Sleip Imaging: Mobile AI-powered gait analysis technology used in the paddock to detect subtle asymmetries or lameness that the human eye might miss.

• The Unfriendly Claim Restriction: A rule preventing a successfully claimed horse from running for six months if it is sold or leased to one of the unsuccessful original claimants.

• Wait-and-Muck: A Derby-week strategy where trainers drop fit horses at low tags simply to “muck out” stall space for arriving stakes contenders.

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We’ll get to today’s report in a moment. First, a quick question and a quick announcement, which are closely-related to each other.

QUESTION:

What do you think of Horseclaiming.com so far? Be as critical and instructive as possible. And email me at rob@sungardeninvestment.com on it.

Because in the world of modern media, it can be anything our audience wants it to be. As I’ve said for years in my “legacy” industry, investment management and investor education, if you fill a gap in what people want versus what’s out there, everyone wins.

This site was launched to provide current and future racehorse owners with no-BS content on the business and enjoyment of racing. The goal is to “expand the tent” and fill in gaps for those who may like what else is out there, but would like something else. What is that? Thanks for thinking about it and letting us know.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I’ll have much more on this next week and beyond. But the bottom-line is this.

Along with a group of first-movers, I recently launched a racehorse-owners partnership. You guessed it…the initial focus is on the claiming game.

So going forward, Horseclaiming.com will include a new, exciting and informative add-on to what you’ve seen so far from us. I’m going to use our live experience as a racing syndicate, and deliver our ongoing story through this site.

I’ll cover our activity in the claiming box, the process our trainer and racing manager focus on in between races, as well as in scouting potential additions to the stable. Naturally, there are some things that are kept “in house.” But I’m inviting you (and anyone you think would like to go on the journey with us) to experience it through my gradual immersion into this great sport.

As a partner in a racing syndicate, this also gives me some pretty awesome access to people in the industry. The goal here, as always, is to highlight the folks that are not only doing right by the horse, but setting the bar high in terms of running a business. That happens to be focused around racing claiming horses for purse money.

Stay tuned. Now, on to today’s issue.

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Mid-Week Recap

The first half of the week was defined by high-velocity roster pruning. As stables across the country finalized their shipments for Derby Weekend, we saw a significant “clearing of the decks” at Parx and Will Rogers, while Churchill Downs began its high-stakes churn as trainers “mucked out” stalls to make room for arriving stakes stars.

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Big Stories & Weekend Outlook

1. The “Stall Shuffle” Surge (Churchill Downs): Entering Thursday, the Churchill backstretch is at 100% capacity. Several “Maiden Optional” drops on Wednesday were likely designed to move non-essential stock immediately. For the weekend, watch for high-end $50k claimers on the Oaks/Derby undercards—these might be “Ship-and-Win” targets from California looking to pay for their cross-country vanning.

2. The $85M Preakness Consolidation: The industry continues to digest CDI’s acquisition of the Preakness Stakes IP. Scouts at the mid-week sales were already valuing Maryland-breds with a “CDI Premium,” speculating that the Kentucky-style purse supplements will be standard in Maryland by 2027.

3. The Turf Festival Launch (NYRA): With the transition to the grass at Aqueduct/Belmont, Wednesday saw three turf sprinters snatched in multi-slip “shakes.” The weekend forecast in NY suggests firm ground, which will trigger aggressive claiming in the $40,000 allowance-optional ranks as stables secure their summer “turf anchors.”

Oh, and apparently, there’s also a couple of big races in Louisville on Friday for fillies, and Saturday for the boys. For more on that, see every other racing industry publication, where their blanket coverage of the Run For The Roses is typically outstanding.

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Industry Pulse & Technical Scouting

• Industry News – HISA Budget Stability: The FTC has officially approved the 2026 HISA budget ($78.5 million). The landmark shift to a “Starts-Only” assessment model is now live. For claiming owners, this provides massive fiscal transparency—regulatory costs are now a predictable, flat line item per start, removing the volatile percentage-of-purse uncertainty of previous seasons.

• Scouting Intel – Paddock Thermography: Digital scouting reached a new standard during this week’s training sessions. We observed several prominent syndicates utilizing handheld Thermal Gait Imaging scanners. By identifying “hot spots” before the horse warms up, scouts are mitigating risk on high-end claims with surgical precision.

📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “Holiday Liquidity” Play

During high-profile weeks (like Derby or Breeders’ Cup), the claiming box becomes a liquidity tool rather than a performance indicator.

• The Logic: A trainer may drop a horse from $50k to $30k strictly to free up a stall for a stakes-caliber shipment arriving for the feature race.

• The Play: Look for horses dropping in class whose last two Beyers are still competitive for the original level. This “Drop” isn’t a distress signal; it’s an Exit Strategy. Grab the horse, take the 2026 tax-efficient write-off, and you could have a winner at a lower level.

📋 APPENDIX: The Claimer’s Glossary

• Observation Period: The mandatory 30-minute post-race window (Standard for 2026) where a claimed horse is monitored by an official vet before the physical transfer is finalized.

• Starts-Only Fee: The 2026 HISA assessment model where owners pay a flat fee per start, replacing the old volatile “purse-tax” system.

• Intra-Articular Stand-Down: The 14-day prohibition from high-speed works (and 30 days for racing) required after a horse receives a corticosteroid injection in a joint.

Here’s that lucky horse’s foot I mentioned earlier. Hope it brings you luck on your Derby bets this weekend!

🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Weekend Composite (4/24–4/26)

The final weekend of April was defined by the massive transition from Keeneland to Churchill Downs. While Keeneland’s closing Friday saw a flurry of “Spring Cleaning” drops as trainers lightened their loads for the van ride to Louisville, Churchill’s opening weekend featured high-velocity retooling for the upcoming Derby Week.

Circuit Leaderboard:

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Big Weekend Stories

1. The “Steel” Strike at Keeneland (4/24): In Friday’s 4th race, the Brad Cox-trained Damascus Steel ($50,000) dominated as the 11/10 favorite. Despite the victory, the horse was the subject of intense backside interest as stables look for high-percentage sprinters ready for the Churchill spring meet.

2. Rice Loses “Magic” at the Big A (4/26): Sunday’s 4th at Aqueduct saw a high-participation shake for Curlin’s Magic. Trainer Linda Rice, usually the hunter in the claiming box, saw this fit runner go to new connections after a game second-place finish. In a market hungry for “checks-earners,” this claim highlights the premium on consistency.

3. The Churchill “Stall Shuffle”: Opening weekend in Louisville saw immediate action. Stables are aggressively dropping “ship-and-win” entries to secure valuable stall space for the 152nd Kentucky Derby week. We noted a surge in interest for horses with proven “stalk-and-pounce” styles suited for the fast Churchill dirt.

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Industry Pulse & Look-Ahead (Mon–Wed)

• Industry News – HISA Budget Clarity: The FTC’s official 2026 budget approval for HISA ($78.5 million) has brought much-needed fiscal transparency. The shift toward a “Starts-Only” fee model allows claiming owners to calculate regulatory overhead as a flat line item per start, driving a 6% uptick in mid-tier entries this week.

• Look-Ahead: Monday–Wednesday Action:

  • Mon 4/27: Focus shifts to Parx Racing and Finger Lakes for industrial-level retooling.

  • Tue 4/28: High-volume entry boxes at Will Rogers Downs and Mahoning Valley.

  • Wed 4/29: Registration opens for the $100 Churchill Downs Challenge, a major scouting ground for claiming partnerships.

📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “Derby Week Liquidity” Play

During the transition to major meets like Churchill, the claiming box becomes a liquidity tool.

• The Logic: Trainers often drop tags on sound horses strictly to “free up a stall” for a stakes-caliber shipment.

• The Play: Look for horses dropping from $50k to $30k this week. If the owner has other horses winning at the meet, this isn’t a “distress signal”—it’s an exit strategy. You capture the tax-efficient write-off on a fresh asset while they gain the stall space they need for Saturday.

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🟥 [ 1 ] WIN: Weekend Composite (4/17–4/19)

The third weekend of April saw the claiming market decouple from the stakes-heavy headlines. While the elite circuits focused on graded glory, the claiming boxes at Keeneland and Aqueduct became a laboratory for “Surface Hedging.” Stables aggressively targeted dirt specialists entered in turf-scheduled races to capitalize on the weekend’s erratic weather.

Circuit Leaderboard (Fri–Sun Snapshot):

⬜ [ 2 ] PLACE: 3 Weekend Stories of Note

1. The Cox “Starwood” Strike (Keeneland, 4/17): Friday’s opener at Lexington was a textbook display of “Blue-Chip” valuation. Starwood, a well-bred 3-year-old for LNJ Foxwoods and Brad Cox, won by 3 lengths as the 3/5 favorite before being snatched for $50,000. When a powerhouse barn drops a horse with this physical frame into the claiming ranks, it triggers a “shake” from every mid-level trainer looking to upgrade their summer Churchill string.

2. The “El Paco” Graduation (Aqueduct, 4/19): Sunday’s 8th at the Big A featured a dominant score by El Paco ($40,000). Secured out of a Maiden Claiming event, this horse represents the “Technical Graduate”—an athlete that finally found the right distance (7 furlongs) and surface consistency. New connections are likely eyeing the “New York-Bred” allowance schedule for an immediate ROI.

3. Santa Anita’s “Attack” Mode (4/19): Sunday’s 3rd at Santa Anita saw Attack Now taken for the weekend’s highest tag of $62,500. In a market currently obsessed with “speed-on-speed,” this claim on a fit, tactical router signals a strategic move by the Michael McCarthy barn to secure distance-capable inventory before the California circuit shifts its focus to the late-spring turf festivals.

🟦 [ 3 ] SHOW: Biothermal Scouting & The Manual

• The “Show” – Biothermal Tech: We observed a massive uptick in the use of Biothermal Microchips at the claiming window this weekend. Unlike standard ID chips, these allow owners to scan a horse’s internal temperature instantly from the rail. Pro-scouts are using this in the paddock to identify “pre-race stress spikes”—a horse running a fever or showing a 2-degree temperature jump is a “no-go” for a claim, regardless of the pedigree.

• Handle Trends – The “Action” Premium: Wagering handle on claiming races is currently outperforming maiden specials by 18%. Bettors are gravitating toward the “Industrial” circuits because claiming horses run more frequently (every 4-6 weeks). This “Action Premium” is driving owners to prioritize durability over brilliant but fragile “flash-in-the-pan” types.

📘 THE CLAIMER’S MANUAL

Tip: The “Tax-Efficient” Exit Strategy

Under the One Big Beautiful Act (OBBBA) of 2025, the claiming box is no longer just a place to buy a horse—it’s a liquidity tool.

• The Logic: Thanks to the permanent 100% bonus depreciation, you can deduct the full cost of a claimed horse in year one.

• The Play: If a horse you claimed for $50k is struggling, “dropping it in the box” for $40k isn’t just a loss—it’s a strategic exit. You capture the immediate tax write-off on the front end and use the claiming box to maintain liquidity, allowing you to cycle capital into a fresh asset in under 30 days. In 2026, the claiming box is essentially a “high-speed stock exchange” for equine assets.

📋 APPENDIX: The Claimer’s Glossary

• Biothermal Scan: A non-invasive paddock check using an ISO-compliant microchip to read a horse’s internal temperature in real-time.

• MTO (Main Track Only): An entrant in a turf race that will only start if the race is moved to the dirt; used by “mucker” specialists to secure dirt races at turf-level purses.

• The Pill Shake: The random draw used to decide ownership when multiple “slips” are dropped for the same horse.

• The Scratch Void: The rule (active in NY/KY) where a claim is voided if the horse is scratched at the gate or suffers a catastrophic injury during the race.