New claiming rule for layoff horses

ELMONT, N.Y. – A new claiming rule will go into effect with the Oct. 29 beginning of the Aqueduct meeting, one designed to reward horsemen for displaying patience in bringing horses back off an extended layoff.

An owner may opt to declare a horse ineligible from being claimed provided the horse has not started for a minimum of 180 days and the horse is entered for a claiming price equal to or greater than the price at which he last started.

The owner must declare his horse ineligible to be claimed at time of entry, and the horse will be ineligible to be claimed only for the first start following the layoff.

“The purpose of the rule is to reward those people who have taken care of their horses,” said Dan Eidson, the racing secretary for the New York Racing Association. “It gives them a little incentive. It worked very well in California.”