Sim Magic – Claiming Strategies A Happy New Year everyone, As always, with the new year their begins a new countdown to the Bluegrass Derby in the Sim, but while those that have a contender for the big race can count themself lucky, most of us already know we have no shot, or will find out soon. For those, like me, there are still a few exciting things remaining in the sim, while currently breeding keeps me heavily active, I wanna focus on something else, claiming strategies. This means, what to look for, when claiming a horse. Obviously the main reason to claim a horse, is to fill one more stable space with a lot of hope, But what are the recipies to a good claim, or better said, what is a good claim. The main aspect, first of all is, do you look for immediate BP or do you have time on your side, for those running BP Earning Stables, the main goal will be to find a horse, that can win at the level he is running at, I call this strategy Immediate Success \u2013 (One and out)<\/B>. and mainly already has proven it, this means, it even can be a one and out claimer, for such horses I\u2019d not spent more than 7,500$, for obvious reasons, if it can win at the class it currently runs in, it\u2019s likely you\u2019ll not keep it for long, so it\u2019s likely it\u2019s a one and out claim, which in the end, can mean a 50 BP \u2013 Claiming BP earn, so if it cost 5,000$ and 10 BP, and wins back at the same track, first time out, you gained 40 BP with the claim, and gain a new open space to do the same again. For Example, see my runner this week Don\u2019t be Badd http:\/\/www.simulatedsports.net\/hr\/runtime\/prettyhorse.asp?hossnum=3973<\/A> when I made the claim for him, with my current stable, he had a 2nd<\/SUP> and a 3rd<\/SUP> place at the level I claimed him, I put a little up on him and ran him for 7,5K, but I was ready to loose him, luckily I didn\u2019t, but I\u2019ll soon likely. Another example see my claim Lord Protector: http:\/\/www.derbyfever.com\/hr\/runtime\/prettyhorse.asp?hossnum=111050<\/A> Claimed for 2000$, I ran him back at 5000$, got the win, saw him get claimed, and collected the 50 BP minus 4 BP invested. This claim was even trickier, I made 3000$ with it, plus claimed him back with one of my other stables, so now I can bring him back in a 5000$ race in 3 weeks, and as I see he can win with his speeds at that class collect another 50 BP, To maximize this, it\u2019s useful to bid for a race back at the same track, which costs usually 25 credits, if you don\u2019t have credits, you can still get 40 BP in the first win, if you can travel at 0 BP cost. This example even showed another form of claiming, the Protective Claiming, Protective Claiming means you run your horse in a claimer, but thinking it is running at the right price, you take a shot at him with another stable. This of course only works, when managing multi-stables and having open spaces. I tworks even better, if the other stable has a runner at the same track. Another example for Protective Claiming: http:\/\/www.simulatedsports.net\/hr\/runtime\/prettyhorse.asp?hossnum=117681<\/A> A Bit Beeg now has been a Immediate Success Claim for two of my stables, producing lots of BP. But back to immediate success claiming, it can get even better see Robynhood, I sneaked him through the first race unclaimed, so could bring him back for a 2nd<\/SUP> race, and get a 2nd<\/SUP> win: http:\/\/www.derbyfever.com\/hr\/runtime\/prettyhorse.asp?hossnum=27367<\/A> Of course you can also end up with the race running a duck and getting claimed, which leaves you empty handed, but if you time your claim right, and see that the horse has already won or finished in the Top 3 at the same class and distance it will work. Important, finishing in the Top 3 in the first race I\u2019d rate succesful, as you\u2019ll easily gain Bps that way. If claiming a horse here, and it runs not in the Top 3, think about dropping it into the auction, after 2 or 3 unsuccesful races, as it missed it\u2019s target, and uses stable space without earning BP. A claiming strategy very near to this is to claim for going up, you spot a horse, that can win at the class it currently runs at, but you think it can even win at a higher class, your goal is obvious, work it up through the classes and earn BP, without it getting claimed, let\u2019s call it: Working the classes up<\/SPAN><\/B> This means you\u2019ll claim a horse for let\u2019s say 5000$, and think it is worth much more, so you kind of protect it first time out, by upping it\u2019s class tag: For example: http:\/\/www.derbyfever.com\/hr\/runtime\/prettyhorse.asp?hossnum=136631<\/A> I claimed the horse at 2500$, it had finished in the Top 3 in a 7500 and a 30000$ claimer, so I was pretty sure it was better than the 2500, and wanted to protect it in his first race for my stable, well it didn\u2019t work out that well, he finished only 5th<\/SUP>, but well, now I was safe to bring it back down, and finally led it to success later by switching surfaces, which brings me to: Another possible claiming strategy is to look for horses, that have been mishandled, or not been tried out at certain distances, for example, if a horse has only run on dirt, or only on turf, or has never been routed, don\u2019t fear anything, if it\u2019s the right price, go ahead and claim it, let\u2019s call this strategy: Looking for the unknown This can work especially well, when looking for younger horses and then giving it time to develop, this claiming strategy often leads the horse into Starter Allowance races, and is a strategy I like to use very often early on for 3yos, as often people give up on the horse to quick,