Tip of the Week: When the Conditions Suit

Photo of Saratoga Race Course by Eclipse Sportswire
A condition book can be a trainer’s best friend.
Knowing how to read it and understanding the conditions of certain races often plays a critical role in finding right spots for a horse.
Handicappers can tag along at the betting windows, too, if they pay attention.
A good example of how to properly spot a horse can be found in Ziptronic, an 8-year-old gelding who was claimed by trainer Bruce Levine on behalf of owner Mike Repole for $40,000 out of a winning race on June 26 race at Belmont Park.
Their intentions in grabbing a gelding of that age were pretty apparent as Repole places a priority on winning the leading owner’s title at Saratoga Race Course and Ziptronic clearly was a horse capable of padding Repole’s win total at the Spa.
The race Ziptronic was claimed out of was an optional claimer for New York-breds on the turf at six furlongs. Allowance races generally are used as steppingstones to stakes races. Once a horse wins a non-winners-of-one allowance race, he cannot race at that level again and must move up to the non-winners-of-two allowance ranks.
An optional allowance race expands the mix. It allows horses to run for either the allowance condition or a claiming tag or another condition, such as not winning a certain type of race over a specific length of time.

The race Ziptronic won at Belmont Park was an optional allowance race for New York-breds in which horses could run without fear of being claimed at the non-winners-of-two allowance level or for a claiming price of $40,000.
When Levine ran Ziptronic for the first time, the Aug. 10 race at Saratoga he chose was a similar optional allowance turf sprint for state-breds with a $40,000 claiming tag attached to it. Only this time, Levine entered Ziptronic under the allowance conditions of the race, meaning he could not be claimed.
That move indicated Levine saw something he liked in Ziptronic and was not interested in losing him via claim after just one race – a decision made even more compelling by Repole’s fervent desire to win the owner’s title. Perhaps they had plans beyond Ziptronic’s next race.
Handicappers who latched on to that notion were doubly rewarded.
They collected a $6.70 payoff when Ziptronic won the Aug. 10 race by a length. Then on Aug. 27, in the final week of the meet, Levine ran Ziptronic in an open allowance race, where the 8-year-old gelding’s state-bred allowance wins did not come into play. Ziptronic won that race as well, paying $4.40 for a 2 ¾-length victory.
THE LESSON: It can pay to follow along when a sharp trainer puts the condition book to excellent use.