Claiming Crown institutes new nominating process

Trainers will need to pay a $100 nomination fee to make horses in their stables eligible for races in the Claiming Crown under new procedures adopted by the organizations that administer the seven-race event, the organizations said on Tuesday.

The new nomination procedure reflects the unusual nature of the Claiming Crown, a series of seven stakes with conditions similar to starter allowance races. Under the old nomination system, trainers nominated specific horses to the races, but in some cases, the horses were claimed between the time when the nomination was taken and the event was held.

“Rather than having trainers nominating horses this far out from the Claiming Crown, we felt it would be easier to change the nominating process,” said Dan Bork, the racing secretary at Gulfstream Park, where the Claiming Crown is scheduled for Dec. 1. “Trainers who nominate a horse in August for the event may not have that horse by December 1. We believe this also gives trainers the ability to get a horse for one of the Claiming Crown’s seven races or make a horse they currently have eligible for the event.”

The $100 nomination fee will be due by Aug. 31. Specific horses will need to be nominated for one of the races by Nov. 9, three weeks prior to the event. Trainers who do not pay the nomination fee will need to pay supplemental nomination fees to make a horse eligible for any of the races.

The Claiming Crown, held annually since 1999, is administered as a partnership between the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. The seven races will have total purses of $850,000 this year.