The Racing Biz has been tracking claiming activity in the mid-Atlantic region and reporting on it weekly for the last four months. We continue that, along with our Midlantic Claiming 7 — the trainers who have been busiest over the prior 30 days, ending in this case on October 29.
Mid-Atlantic claiming activity was more robust last week than in the prior week, but that led to nothing other than minor shuffling in the Midlantic Claiming 7 busiest claiming trainers in the last 30 days. 
Patricia Farro, second a week ago to John Locke and atop the leaderboard the week before that, reassumed the top spot. She’s claimed 12 horses in the last 30 days, with a combined value of over $170,000 — an average of more than $14,200. Locke, first a week ago, held down the second spot with 11 horses claimed, though their total value lagged well behind Farro’s.
Perhaps the biggest mover this week was Jamie Ness. Though he fell only from third to fourth on the list, his total claims dipped from 14 to seven in the last 30 days. That’s because in the week that fell off (from September 23-29), he’d claimed seven horses, while in the most recent week he claimed none. The only newcomer to the list, Michael Pino, has claimed five horses for a total of $58,500 in the last 30 days, good for seventh on the list.
Ness and Farro top the list of trainers having had horses claimed from them. Ness has lost nine, and Farro has lost seven, though the value of Farro’s — $94,500 — leads all trainers.
The list tracks horses claimed in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and at Parx Racing and Penn National in Pennsylvania and at West Virginia’s Charles Town Races.
For the week…
Claiming activity made a minor comeback in the last week, though it continued to be somewhat slower than it had been previously.
Overall, 49 horses were claimed at the region’s tracks with a combined value of over $513,000. Both those numbers were notably better than the prior week, but both are considerably behind the region’s weekly averages (roughly, 62 claims for a total of over $681,000). With racing activity in the region lighter than it had been — and about to get lighter still as The Meadowlands reaches the end of its meet — that trend is no surprise and unlikely to abate soon.
Parx Racing and Laurel Park were the busiest tracks. Parx saw 22 horses change hands via the claimbox with a combined value of $251,500. At Laurel, 17 horses changed hands, and their value was $191,250. Overall, claimed horses averaged just shy of $10,500.
