Royal Posse tops 32 nominees for Claiming Crown Jewel

MIAMI – Nominations have been released for the nine Claiming Crown races that will highlight opening day of the 2015-16 Gulfstream Park championship meet on Dec. 5.

This will mark the 17th edition of the popular series, which rewards and pays homage to the horses who are the foundation of racing programs at racetracks throughout the country year-round, and the fourth consecutive year the Claiming Crown has been held at Gulfstream Park.

The $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel is the main event on the card and, as usual, figures to attract a full field of horses from all sectors of the country. The 1 1/8-mile event lured 32 nominations, topped by Royal Posse, the runner-up in the recent Empire Classic at Belmont Park, as well as the stakes-placed Indycott.

Other nominees include Gold Treasure, the winner of a $40,000 starter race at Santa Anita on Oct. 23 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, and the locally based Rizwan, the runner-up earlier this month in the Sunshine Millions Turf Preview.

Conspicuous by his absence on the nomination list for the Jewel is trainer Nick Zito, who has won the race the last two years with Nevada Kid and Catholic Cowboy.

Mike Maker, who has won more races than any other trainer in Claiming Crown history, nominated just one horse, Private Tale, to the Jewel.

Among the more notable horses nominated to the undercard events on Claiming Crown Day is Trouble Kid, who crossed the finish line first only to be disqualified from the apparent victory last week in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel. He is one of 42 horses eligible to compete in the seven-furlong, $110,000 Rapid Transit.