Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
A horse’s value often rests in the eye of the beholder.
There are, however, some signs that are crystal clear about the way owners and trainers view their horses.
A big drop in claiming price can rarely be construed as something positive.
What should be more intriguing to handicappers are indications that a stable wants to hold on to its horse.
A gelding named Resourceful serves as an example of a stable doing its best to keep a horse in its barn.
In his Jan. 25, 2015 career debut at Tampa Bay Downs, Resourceful was entered in a $12,500 maiden claimer. He finished third, losing by a nose and a head, but was claimed by trainer William Downing on behalf of owner John Grossis Racing Corporation.
Though it wasn’t a winning effort, Downing liked his new acquisition enough that he never placed a claiming tag on Resourceful again. After running twice in maiden special weight races – and winning the second time – Resourceful was then entered in a string of starter allowance races in which he could not be claimed. On those four occasions, he racked up a win, two seconds and a third.
The second victory, which came on Dec. 22 at Parx, closed out Resourceful’s 2015 campaign and set the stage for him to head to Florida for a winter campaign, which started after a few months of rest.
On March 12, Downing entered Resourceful in the sixth race at Gulfstream Park, which just so happened to be an optional claimer in which Resourceful was entered under the allowance condition so that he could not be claimed.
Horses moving to a bigger circuit are often exposed for lower than usual claiming prices in order to find a level of competition they can handle. Other times connections are eager to cash in and lose their horse for a higher claiming tag than they would find at a smaller track. Yet the continued placement of Resourceful in a race without a claiming tag was a strong indication of the connections’ faith in their 5-year-old gelding and their willingness to continue racing him under their banner.
The oddsmaker wasn’t completely convinced as Resourceful was pegged at 5-1 in the morning line. Yet handicappers found Resourceful far more attractive than that. They bet him down to the $2-to-1 second choice, just a small notch behind the $1.90-to-1 favorite, and they proved to be quite skillful in their assessment as Resourceful found a way to post a length and a quarter victory, paying $6 for a $2 win bet.
THE LESSON: It can be a very positive sign when a stable uses races such as starter allowance or optional claimers to continually protect a horse from claiming races, especially when shifting to a new circuit.