Oaklawn Park: Claiming activity robust at current meet

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – There are a number of ways to judge the health of a meet, from handle to attendance to purses. But claiming activity also offers insight, and just 25 days into the Oaklawn Park meet 187 horses have changed hands for a collective $2,745,000.

That averages out to 7.48 claims per card, for $109,800 in spending between stables on a daily basis. The price of the average claim is $14,679.

Oaklawn hit a claiming peak in 2006, when 351 claims were made for $6,118,005 in transactions among stables. This year, there were signs before the meet ever opened Jan. 10 that the track was poised for another strong claiming season.

“If money is any indicator, we had more money on file this year than in the past,” said Terri Hoffrogge, the horsemen’s bookkeeper at Oaklawn since 2007.

Hoffrogge said last year, 333 horses were claimed for $4,934,750 in transactions, the second-best claiming year at Oaklawn behind 2006. The track is currently on pace to surpass totals from 2013.

There are a number of factors driving the local pace of claiming, which trainers Terry Brennan and Paul Holthus likened to activity at Churchill Downs and Del Mar. Both said purses are a key component. Oaklawn’s second purse increase of the meet goes into effect Thursday. The boost puts maiden special weight races at $60,000, and the meet’s bottom purse at $18,000. Back in 2005, maiden special weight races were $31,000, and the bottom purse, $9,000.

“Purses have doubled in 10 years,” said David Longinotti, director of racing for Oaklawn. “That’s pretty monstrous growth.”

Brennan, who said he has been outshook for seven horses this meet, noted a $5,000 claim that can win back at that level at Oaklawn would now earn $10,800.

“You get double what the horse is worth,” he said.

“Even running second pays a lot of bills,” Holthus said.

Pat Pope, racing secretary at Oaklawn, said the record purses give owners the potential for a quicker-than-usual return on their investment at many different claiming levels.

“Now when you look at taking a horse, you can get almost all of your money back in one race,” he said.

There are two new amendments to the local claiming rules. One amendment has changed the time a claim can be deposited in the claim box from 10 to 15 minutes before the race. Another change gives stewards authority to void the claim of a horse that either dies during the race or is vanned off the racetrack. Stewards also can void for injury, depending on certain circumstances.

The changes could be raising confidence at the upper claiming levels. Hoffrogge said there have been nine horses claimed for $40,000; 19 taken for $30,000; and 34 for $16,000. She said the highest-priced claim this season has been for $62,500. The horse was Dreaming Blue, haltered Jan. 26 by the meet’s current leading owner, Danny Caldwell.

Another barometer of healthy claiming has been the number of entities dropping claims for certain horses. For example, 12 different parties shook for Duvali on Feb. 1, while another 12 dropped on Laope on Feb. 15. Last month, there were nine claims each in for Jardenia on Jan. 30, and Debit Card on Jan. 31. Holthus said he knows of one trainer who dropped claims on 13 horses before recently haltering his first this meet at Oaklawn.

The claiming business has been good for Arkansas. There is a 9.5 percent sales tax on claims, with that amount divided among state, city, and county coffers. Last year, the state, which gets the highest percentage of the sales tax, garnered $293,000 from claims at Oaklawn.