Some lessons on claiming

 an aspect of the racing business that can be difficult for many people to grasp.

Happy holidays to all! Here’s the results from the official race charts of our old friends, horses that were claimed from us over the past year who ran this month for their new owners. A couple ran well, most were badly beaten. Of course this is one month, but it’s pretty representative of what horses do once they leave our barn. Go to www.equibase.com and look up the records of all the horses claimed from us in 2013, 2012, 2011, etc. Recall that many (not all) of these horses did pretty well for us. Some were claimed out of winning races, in most cases many if not all of our valued co-owners (you know who you are!) were very sorry to see them sold. Especially when the horse ran well for us the day it was claimed, many people felt we let a good one get away from us. Now, take at look at these results....

Currency Gains finished 12th beaten by 29 lengths, on December 22, 2013, at TURFWAY PARK in Race 8.

The Truth and K G finished 7th beaten by 11 1/2 lengths, on December 22, 2013, at AQUEDUCT in Race 1. 

Here's d'Bride finished 1st by 2 1/2 lengths, on December 21, 2013, at TAMPA BAY DOWNS in Race 5. 

Melody Pomeroy finished 5th beaten by 12 1/2 lengths, on December 20, 2013, at LAUREL PARK in Race 1. 

Allthewayyeah finished 2nd beaten by 1 1/2 lengths, on December 19, 2013, at HOLLYWOOD CASINO AT CHARLES TOWN RACES in Race 6.  

Amelia Mar finished 4th beaten by 7 3/4 lengths, on December 19, 2013, at PENN NATIONAL in Race 6.  

Piano Man Ted finished 6th beaten by 8 3/4 lengths, on December 19, 2013, at LAUREL PARK in Race 7.  

Amelia Mar finished 5th beaten by 7 1/2 lengths, on December 11, 2013, at PENN NATIONAL in Race 6. 

Here's d'Bride finished 5th beaten by 1 3/4 lengths, on December 11, 2013, at TAMPA BAY DOWNS in Race 7. 

Raro finished 10th beaten by 15 1/4 lengths, on December 7, 2013, at GULFSTREAM PARK in Race 7. 

A lot of us were very attached to these horses for understandable reasons, and were disappointed when they were claimed. After these results, would you rather have the money or the horse?

Remember Brown Eyed Nance, a really talented, fun, promising horse we owned a couple of years ago who developed a serious ankle problem? Her final race for us was two years ago last May for $30,000 claiming at Belmont Park. She ran 2^nd at Belmont and was claimed from us, just as we planned. She never won a single race for her new owners.  This horse was named by my Mother for my Sister, I adored her. After the last two+ years, would you rather have the money or the horse?

Take a look on www.equibase.com at the records of any/all of these horses from previous years since they were claimed from us; This Ones For Jodi, Tater Taunter, Morningsideheights, Wannabe, Here’s D’Bride, Darling Bridezilla, Jack Sensical, The Truth and KG (a horse we all loved and a very special situation just FYI). A few have scratched out a win or two, most at much lower levels/prices then they paid us for them. Almost every one lost money for their new owners; several ran just a few times for their new owners before being retired. After looking at the records of these horses since they were claimed, would you rather have the money or the horses?

These horses (and 90%+ of those in the past decade) did a LOT LESS well for their new owners than they did for us. If you want to know how any owner/trainer/stable compares with their peers, look at what happens to the horses that leave their barn and go to someone else. Anything can happen with any one horse, but a record like this speaks for itself.

This is a tough game folks! Good, promising horses get hurt, sick and just never are the same. Look each year on January 1st at the leading Kentucky Derby – Triple Crown prospects and see how many are even still in training by December 31st. Sobering stuff indeed. That’s why you run horses in winning spots, keep yourself in the best company and your horses in the worst company as the old adage goes, and very, very rarely worry about it when someone claims your horse. Win races at a high clip and make it easy on the horses by proper placement (remember you are punishing a horse and increasing the risk of injury by running it over its head, and doing the right, safe thing by running them where they can compete comfortably) and best of luck to someone who claims ‘your’ horse. That’s the only way to have any decent shot of paying the bills, let alone making money.

This is probably the most difficult thing for owners to grasp, most people just can’t get their heads around the idea that some might claim “their” horse, especially if it wins the day it was claimed. So most people keep running horses way over their head to prevent a claim, and instead of winning at an above average 18-25% clip as we typically do, end up winning less than 10%. You think it’s tough when you win 20% of the time? Try winning 5% of the time with a barn full of horses you protected from being claimed and see how that feels! You think it’s tough to make money winning 20%? Damn right! Run horses over their heads to keep them from being claimed and be ready to lose all the money you invested, and probably a lot more. Almost every Kenwood co-owner with at least one of the above mentioned Kenwood horses expressed disappointment to outright horror when they were claimed. No blame at all, it’s not that you were ‘wrong’, it’s human nature. But think back to the horse you hated to have claimed, check out its record today and ask yourself with the benefit of hindsight and the emotion of it all left aside would you rather have the money or the horse?