Dec 7: Claiming Crown

$1 Million Claiming Crown Attracts 232 Nominations for Eight-Race Showcase Dec. 7
Gulfstream Press Release

Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Trainer Mike Maker Nominate Strong Contingents

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Full, highly competitive fields are expected for the 15th Annual Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 7 after horsemen from throughout the East Coast and Midwest produced 232 nominations for the $1 million eight-race showcase for the country’s top claiming horses.

Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trainer Michael Maker are gearing up to build upon their unprecedented successes last year, when the Claiming Crown was renewed for the first time at Gulfstream Park. The Ramseys, the event’s all-time leading owners with 10 trips to the winner’s circle, made 19 nominations, while Maker, the event’s leading trainer with 11 victories, made 27 nominations. The Ramseys and Maker teamed to win four of seven Claiming Crown stakes at Gulfstream last year, including the Jewel (Parent’s Honor), the Tiara (Starsilhouette), Iron Horse (Brother Bird) and Rapid Transit (Bernie the Maestro).

Bernie the Maestro and Brother Bird are expected to be back this year, with the former nominated to the $200,000 Jewel, the $125,000 Emerald and the $110,000 Rapid Transit and the latter made eligible for the $110,000 Iron Horse and the $110,000 Rapid Transit.

The Claiming Crown’s first stop at Gulfstream Park was so well received by horsemen, racing fans and bettors last year that track management signed an agreement with the partnership of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association to host the event for three years. Building on last year’s success, an eighth race and $150,000 in purse money have been added for the event that honors the blue-collar horses that are the very foundation of the racing industry nationwide. Horses that have raced for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower since Jan. 1, 2012 are eligible to participate in the Claiming Crown, whose races have price limits of $7,500, $16,000 and $35,000.

The Jewel, a 1 1/8-mile race for horses that have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower, drew 22 nominations, including Bernie the Maestro, the winner of his last two starts for the Ramseys and Maker, who also nominated Malibu Way, Tater Downs and Volcano Run. The Ken McPeek-trained Flashy American, a 4-year-old filly who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita last time out, was also nominated to the Jewel, as well as the $125,000 Tiara, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or lower. The Ramseys nominated the Chad Brown-trained Deanaallen’skitten, a recent Aqueduct stakes winner, to the Tiara, which attracted 34 nominations.

The most popular race among the horsemen was the $125,000 Emerald, which received 55 nominations. The 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for horses who have raced for a claiming price of $25,000 or lower attracted Scarlet Stable’s Grade 1 stakes winner King David, who finished fourth in the Emerald last year and is coming off an allowance win at Churchill Downs.

The $110,000 Glass Slipper for fillies and mares and the $110,000 Rapid Transit will both be run at seven furlongs for horses who have raced for a claiming price of $16,000 or lower.

Horses that have raced for a claiming price of $7,500 or lower are eligible for three races: the $110,000 Iron Lady, a 1 1/16-race for fillies and mares which was added to the Claiming Crown this year; the $110,000 Iron Horse, carded for 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds and up; and the $110,000 Express, a six-furlong sprint.

Good take on Sat's races.

Ramseys, Maker looking for back-to-back success in Claiming Crown
Brisnet

The first major event of Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet will take place Saturday with the 15th annual Claiming Crown, a collection of eight stakes races worth a total of $1 million.

The Claiming Crown was established in 1999 to celebrate the blue-collar horses who are the very foundation of the racing industry nationwide and is billed as the claiming horse owner's Breeders' Cup. It is run under starter allowance conditions and is open to horses who have raced for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower since January 1, 2012. The Claiming Crown races have price limits of $7,500, $16,000, $25,000 and $35,000.

The Claiming Crown's first stop at Gulfstream Park in 2012 was so well received by horsemen, racing fans and bettors last year that track management signed an agreement with the partnership of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association to host the event for three years.

"Racing fans across the country will enjoy this great afternoon of racing," Gulfstream President Tim Ritvo said. "The horsemen have supported the Claiming Crown once again with full fields and some of the country's most popular horses. We're looking forward to a big day."

"Gulfstream was gracious in offering to host the Claiming Crown last year, and it was a phenomenal success," said Phil Hanrahan, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "Based on nominations and after looking at the overnight and how full the races got, it looks like this year is going to be another really good year."

In 2012, horses sporting the red-and-white silks of Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Mike Maker swept four of the seven Claiming Crown events, including the Jewel with Parent's Honor. They also came within a head of winning a fifth with Major Marvel in the Emerald.

The popular couple currently lead all owners in 2013 earnings with over $11.8 million. They will have a chance to go one better in this year's Claiming Crown with contenders entered in five of the eight races on Saturday.

The Ramseys' Claiming Crown wins 12 months ago included the seven-furlong Rapid Transit with Bernie the Maestro, and the six-year-old Bernstein gelding will tackle the $200,000 Jewel this year. The 5-2 morning-line favorite is coming off a victory in the October 5 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Downs and will face nine rivals in the Jewel.

Trainer Tim Glyshaw will send out Voodoo Storm in the 1 1/8-mile Jewel for Hoosier Daddy's Stable after claiming the five-year-old son of Storm Cat for $25,000 in August at Ellis Park.

"He looked like he was a pretty quality horse, and there isn't much available in Kentucky for $25,000," Glyshaw said. "The only negative thing I saw was that he didn't have any allowance conditions left -- that's why we started him for open $50,000 (claimer) at Churchill."

Glyshaw didn't have any reservations that Voodoo Storm would be competitive in his first start for his new connections; he was just concerned that it might have been the last start for his new connections. Ken and Sarah Ramsey's reputation for claiming horses, particularly with the Claiming Crown looming, preceded them.

"We had him long enough for two weeks to know that he was better than he had been showing. I was just praying that the Ramseys wouldn't claim him, because that happens quite a bit," Glyshaw said.

After finishing second at Ellis Park in that race, Voodoo Storm returned to a relieved Glyshaw's barn. He proceeded to take an allowance by 3 1/4 lengths and the Mountaineer Mile by 7 3/4 lengths in his past two at Mountaineer Park.

"He's a little quirky," Glyshaw admitted. "He gets riled up in the post parade; he gets riled up in the paddock,; he's always sweating. If you're a handicapper watching him in the paddock, you wouldn't bet him because he's washed out. He was washed out at Mountaineer when it was 30 degrees. That's just him."

Although he was also nominated for the $125,000 Emerald, a turf race, Voodoo Storm is scheduled for a Jewel clash with Bernie the Maestro.

"I told the owner, 'Why do we want to change things now?' This purse is bigger, and going into the race, at least in my mind, I think it has to be us and Bernie the Maestro as the favorites," Glyshaw said. "I think it's going to be a nice race between those two. But I'm not throwing anyone out."

The $125,000 Emerald at 1 1/16 miles on the grass will take place one race before the Jewel and attracted an overflow field of 16 but will be limited to 14 starters. Major Marvel narrowly missed in last year's Emerald for the Ramseys and Maker, and he is currently on a six-race win streak. The seven-year-old scored in the Unbridled Stakes at Louisiana Downs on September 7 and followed that with a win in a tough optional claimer at Churchill Downs on November 9.

Grip Hands, who has won three of his last four starts, will enter the Emerald in sharp form. The five-year-old gelded son of Giant's Causeway's victories came on synthetic surfaces, but trainer Graham Motion expects him to be able to transfer his solid recent form to the Gulfstream turf course.

"It's possible that he's a synthetic specialist, but I've always found that synthetic horses seem to handle grass as well, nine times out of 10," Motion said. "I think it's more of a coincidence that his best races have been on synthetic surfaces and not grass."

Grips Hands has been victorious once on grass, showing promise with a 2 3/4-length triumph over the Gulfstream green on December 3, 2011.

"He's always been a horse that's worked very well in the morning. He's a very aggressive horse, hence his running style. He tends to be close to the pace," Motion said. "He's put a string of decent races together. He's a horse that seems to run well fresh, which is why we decided not to run him between (winning at) Keeneland (on October 13) and now."

The Ramsey colors were carried to victory in the $125,000 Tiara by Starsilhouette in 2012, and the leading owners will be represented by Deanaallen'skitten in Saturday's renewal of the 1 1/16-mile turf contest. The six-year-old Kitten's Joy nare has hit the board in each of her six starts on the Gulfstream turf course, and ships south off a game success in Aqueduct's Trevita Stakes for trainer Chad Brown on November 6.

Brother Bird prevailed for the Ramseys in the 2012 Iron Horse, a 1 1/16-mile contest that is restricted to runners who have started for a $7,500 or less, and returns for a second straight win in this year's $110,000 contest. The half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and the ill-fated Dullahan recently returned from a nine-month break for Maker to be third in a Churchill starter allowance. He is coming off a fifth-place finish to stablemate and fellow Iron Horse entrant Horned Frog in an October 18 starter allowance over the Keeneland Polytrack.

Peter Walder, who finished among the top 10 trainers last winter at Gulfstream in wins, is preparing three contenders for Saturday's Claiming Crown, including Toh's Grey Cat in the Iron Horse.

"We claimed him just for the Claiming Crown," Walder said. "He worked (Saturday) in 1:00 2/5 and he did it well, so we're looking for a good effort from him. He really is one of those horses who seems to be getting better with age."

The six-year-old gelded son of D'wildcat, was claimed at Gulfstream on September 2 for a $7,500 tag. Walder brought Toh's Grey Cat back six weeks later for a 4 1/4-length victory in a starter optional claimer at Calder.

The $110,000 Rapid Transit, a seven-furlong affair for runners who have been offered for a tag of $16,000 or less, will feature 12 horses including Grande Shores, a homebred for Fred Brei's Jacks or Better Farm. The half-brother to Grade 1-winning sprinter Jackson Bend was out of action for 12 months and could have been had for as little as $8,000 last February, but he has rounded into form recently. After two victories at Calder this summer, the five-year-old Florida-bred ran second in the September 14 Montbrook Stakes going a mile at Gulfstream.

Walder will send out Loveyouallthetime in the Rapid Transit after claiming the chestnut gelding for $10,000 in July. The Not for Love six-year-old has since won three of his four races.

"I think the Claiming Crown is a great idea," added Walder, who's saddled three horses previously in the series. "It's nice to have it in your backyard, and Gulfstream does a great job with it. I'm looking forward to a big day of racing."

The $110,000 Express lured a field of 11 horses who had started for $7,500 or less, and the six-furlong race will see Ribo Bobo attempt to take his winning streak to 10. Claimed in three straight starts at Gulfstream last winter, the five-year-old hasn't been offered for a tag since Mr. Amore Stable and trainer Jason Servis snapped him up for $6,250 in March. Ribo Bobo's steady rise up the class ladder includes a win in the Maryland Million Sprint Handicap at Laurel on October 19 and a second-place finish November 27 in the Fabulous Strike at Penn National.

Eight fillies and mares will get a chance to strut their stuff going seven panels in the $110,000 Glass Slipper. Last year's heroine, Starship Truffles, went on to win the Princess Rooney Handicap and sold for $1 million last month in Kentucky, a far cry from the maximum $16,000 claiming price required to be eligible to run in this spot. Trainer Marty Wolfson, who saddled Starship Truffles last year, will lead over Centrique and Lexington Pearl on Saturday. Centrique, a well-bred daughter of Malibu Moon, was claimed twice in 2012, but has been competing in tougher company this season with a trio of stakes placings.

The Claiming Crown will kick off with the debut of the $110,000 Iron Lady, which will go off as the 3RD race to begin the 10-cent Ultimate 8 with a mandatory payout of a minimum of $100,000.

The inaugural running of the 1 1/16-mile Iron Lady, for fillies and mares who have started for $7,500 or less, will see eight distaffers head to the gate but if Winiliscious runs to form, the real race may be for second. Previously trained by Chuck Spina, the four-year-old earned a 102 BRIS Speed rating when romping by 16 lengths in a starter allowance at Laurel on October 12. Trainer Steve DiMauro has taken over her care on behalf of owner Top Shelf Stable.