Spotlighting High Demand Claimers

A lot of trainers last week were out celebrating the holiday in America. They are apparently all back to their barns and activity in the claiming box went up this week:

7/9/13 IRENAEUS $2,000 claimed by Cubvan17 12 claims
It’s not too often that you see a CPU owned horse draw this much attention. This one has been caged up since July 2011 and was recently placed on the track by the CPU in June, 2013. This mare, out of Mineshaft x Stormy Atlantic has raced twice this year in ill-placed routes. Top speed of 44 this season is pretty poor for a five year old but she wasn’t acquired for racing ability. This one got all the claim bids solely on her pedigree. Although it has tailed off in recent years, Mineshaft has produced a number of stake winners and thus the attraction to this lady.

7/11/13 MIDWAY BLUFF $2,500 claimed by Mikeramsey1 15 claims
This six year old horse has just moved onto his 7th trainer. He drew quite the attention of trainers going off at 1-5 odds but did not come through as favorite, finishing second. He has been on the board 32 times in 47 races and is a steady BP earner. However, not a dependable winner. He has one victory since the end of 2011 and eight-careerwise. He still throws out speeds now and then in the 100-range and looks strong in the claimer level. With that said, I’m speculating he’ll be running in the protected starter allowance group for a while to nurse out some BP’s. Wouldn’t be a bad strategy with this one as the After Market x Pine Bluff is not that desireable for utilization as a he-mare.

7/11/13 TENPIN TOPPLER $7,500 claimed by Gcliffo5 13 Claims
Only intent on acquiring this mare was the affordable claim tag, and a mare who has only raced once in 61 career starts in a claimer, was for breeding purposes. Can’t blame those bidding for this one with the very appealing Galileo x Giant’s Causeway bloodline. She took the huge drop out of allowance levels after a very disappointing streak of finishes in being off the board which dates back to September 2009. She was on the board in just under 1/3rd of her 61 starts and was not paying her bills. She has already been retired and as of this writing, there are no offspring yet. She’ll probably be a better breeder than she was a racer.

7/11/13 TAKE A RISK $2,000 claimed by Hotklein 10 claims
Sire Nothing To Lose has produced only one stake winner. Dam-sire Croco Rouge has not produced any stake winners. So why so many claims for this 8-year old? It’s his ability to bring home the bacon! He’s been on the board six straight races with a pair of wins. 23 of 36 in the money, roughly 66% of the starts. Trainer Jdiso who just lost ownership was racing this guy at the top tiers of the claiming levels. This guy was producing and no reason to expect that to stop. If managed properly, the top finishes should continue.

7/11/13 RAHMS APPROVAL $2,0000 claimed by ATC 10 claims
Rahy x Brahms pedigree could some day turn this guy into a he-mare. He has been on the board about half of his starts on the grass, winning 7 of 33. He won the claiming race that he was selected from, the first win since last fall. After knocking off 110 speeds in late 2012, he has tailed off a bit, not yet surpassing the 100 level this year. Not sure where this one is headed but I think the horse will be competitive in the low to mid-claimers. At least, until the better speed numbers come back.

7/12/13 BAD TIME ZOO $7,500 claimed by Ohioracing 13 claims
This filly out of the Shamardal x Danzig line knows how to bring home the BP’s. She’s finished in the top five in every start since April, 2012. She has run in a mix of allowance and claiming races, however, the claiming amounts have been in the upper levels. The drop from $45k to $7,500 opened a floodgate of claims and she did win her fourth career race. She loves to run on the front end and it looks like she should continue to deliver for her new connection.

7/12/13 AMERICAN ALEX $2,000 claimed by Dzjrr3 20 claims
In a race that was moved from the turf to dirt duce to inclimate weather, American Alex gained his third career win with a career best speed of 91. She is sired by Afleet Alex and comes with the dam-sire Quiet American not quite an awe-inspiring bred horse, but the bloodline is working with this girl. She has set the pace in almost every race she has started and tiring in the last few starts, she gradually dropped in the class levels and blipped on everyone’s radar when she dipped to the $2k level. Lifetime she is 3-2-3 in 10 starts and she looks like a good purchase and Dzjrr3 should find a nice return with this lady.

7/13/13 GOLD CAUSES WAR $5,000 claimed by 4Nighthawk 10 claims
In this low end 2-year old $5k claiming race, 4Nighthawk claimed two horses, the winner and the runner-up. Gold Causes War happens to be the runner-up . She is bred from the War Deputy x Event of the Year line and in her short career has a win and a place in her two starts. This seems to be more of a investment type of claim in hopes that the girl will evolve into something special. Speeds in the 60’s are ok and a try in allowance may be tempting to see how competitive she may be.

7/13/13 THISAINTASLOWHORSE $4,000 claimed by Housparty 10 claims
This 7-year old mare is out of Speightstown x Dixieland Band and breeding prospects are on the table with this one. Her career hasn’t been spectacular with 4 wins and ITM 13 times in 35 starts with only $71k in earnings. However, she appears to be in good form. In March she hit a speed of 97, the highest of her career finishing second. After a 4-month absence, she came back to win this weeks race, albeit with a speed of 80, but she won fairly easily and did not need to push the numbers higher. I think there is opportunity to get some more BP’s out of her, perhaps in the starter allowance class before retirement.

7/13/13 AN INCH SHORT $10,000 claimed by Gcliff1 25 claims
The lid in the claim box was popping up as 25 trainers pushed the paperwork through in hopes of adding this 7-year old mare to their barn. But Gcliff picked up yet another highly sought horse this week and it’s all about the breeding line. Unbridled’s Song x A.P. Indy is a hard bloodline in any female to ignore and on her 57th start, she was dropped out of allowance racing to the claimers for the first time. Her racing career has been poor, with 3 wins and 8 ITM in 57 starts but any expectations of playing with her on the race track are now gone as she has been retired.

7/13/13 I’M NO ZENYATTA $10,000 claimed by Silversun5 10 claims
A two year old filly that was not performing well in the maiden allowance class and was dropped to the $10k claimers where she wrestled out a win as the odds-on favorite. The bloodline of Blame x Deputy Minister is promising and it may take this girl a little while to grow and develop. Not a bad acquisition and patience may be in order with dealing with her.

7/13/13 EDICT OF MILAN claimed by Esquirrel 11 claims
This mare has made only 6 starts since the beginning of 2012 and this week’s race was her first start for 2013. As the 3-5 favorite she mustered out a second and was very rusty. She may be showing signs of aging, as the speeds have been in the 60-range for those starts she has made. It wouldn’t hurt to try her a few more times to see if she works the kinks out in starter allowance but ultimately breeding and using her Roman Ruler x Kingmambo bloodline will evolve with her.

7/14/13 ALL DONE UP claimed by Kfastno1 10 claims
A rather devastating claim as this horse ran as the 1-10 favorite in a field of four and came out injured, finishing last. If anyone boxed the other three in a trifecta, they are laughing their way to the bank with $156,000. This mare out of Shinzig x Well Decorated was retired immediately after the race and was used with sire Sun Tzu (26% of offspring have won a race this year) and Sheza Favorite will soon be stepping into the starting gate. All Done Up had a successful career with 9 wins and 12 places in 45 starts and hopefully this success will pass on to her daughter.