Full, highly competitive fields are
expected for the 15th Annual Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 7 after
horsemen from throughout the East Coast and Midwest produced 232 nominations
for the $1 million, eight-race showcase for the country’s top claiming horses.
Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey and
trainer Michael Maker are gearing up to build upon their unprecedented
successes last year, when the Claiming Crown was renewed for the first time at
Gulfstream Park. The Ramseys, the event’s all-time leading owners with 10 trips
to the winner’s circle, made 19 nominations, while Maker, the event’s leading
trainer with 11 victories, made 27 nominations. The Ramseys and Maker teamed to
win four of seven Claiming Crown stakes at Gulfstream last year, including the
Jewel (Parent’s Honor), the Tiara (Starsilhouette), Iron Horse (Brother Bird)
and Rapid Transit (Bernie the Maestro).
Bernie the Maestro and Brother Bird
are expected to be back this year, with the former nominated to the $200,000
Jewel, the $125,000 Emerald and the $110,000 Rapid Transit and the latter made
eligible for the $110,000 Iron Horse and the $110,000 Rapid Transit.
The Claiming Crown’s first stop at
Gulfstream Park was so well received by horsemen, racing fans and bettors last
year that track management signed an agreement with the partnership of the
National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred
Owners and Breeders’ Association to host the event for three years. Building on
last year’s success, an eighth race and $150,000 in purse money have been added
for the event that honors the blue-collar horses that are the very foundation
of the racing industry nationwide. Horses that have raced for a claiming price
of $35,000 or lower since Jan. 1, 2012 are eligible to participate in the
Claiming Crown, whose races have price limits of $7,500, $16,000 and $35,000.
The Jewel, a 1 1/8-mile race for
horses that have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower, drew 22
nominations, including Bernie the Maestro, the winner of his last two starts
for the Ramseys and Maker, who also nominated Malibu Way, Tater Downs and
Volcano Run. The Ken McPeek-trained Flashy American, a 4-year-old filly who
finished fourth in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita last time out,
was also nominated to the Jewel, as well as the $125,000 Tiara, a 1 1/16-mile
turf race for fillies and mares who have started for a claiming price of
$25,000 or lower. The Ramseys nominated the Chad Brown-trained Deanaallen’skitten,
a recent Aqueduct stakes winner, to the Tiara, which attracted 34 nominations.
The most popular race among the
horsemen was the $125,000 Emerald, which received 55 nominations. The 1
1/16-mile turf stakes for horses who have raced for a claiming price of $25,000
or lower attracted Scarlet Stable’s Grade 1 stakes winner King David, who
finished fourth in the Emerald last year and is coming off an allowance win at
Churchill Downs.
The $110,000 Glass Slipper for
fillies and mares and the $110,000 Rapid Transit will both be run at seven
furlongs for horses who have raced for a claiming price of $16,000 or lower.
Horses that have raced for a
claiming price of $7,500 or lower are eligible for three races: the $110,000
Iron Lady, a 1 1/16-race for fillies and mares which was added to the Claiming
Crown this year; the $110,000 Iron Horse, carded for 1 1/16 miles for
3-year-olds and up; and the $110,000 Express, a six-furlong sprint.
