The Racing Biz has been tracking claiming activity in the mid-Atlantic region and reporting on it weekly for the last several months, in our Claimbox report. 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 March 11, 2014.
All four mid-Atlantic tracks successfully completed their scheduled racing cards during the week ending March 11, and claiming activity showed a commensurate gain. In fact, more horses were claimed, and for a higher gross value, last week than in any week since the one ending December 3, 2013.
Despite the busy week, however, Scott Lake remained atop our Midlantic Claiming 7 list of the busiest trainers. That marked his second straight week atop the list, and the sixth time in the last eight weeks. Overall, he’s claimed eight horses in the last 30 days with a combined value of $90,000 (average: $11,250). That gave him a one horse advantage over Dane Kobiskie, who claimed three horses last week to reach a total of seven for the 30-day period. The average value of Kobiskie’s claims — $12,000 — led the Claiming 7.
Two trainers — Claudio Gonzalez and Ernest Haynes — entered the top seven. Each has made four claims in the last month. They replace Wayne Potts and Ronney Brown, who dropped out.
Kobiskie and Lake tied for the highest net gain of horses. Each added a net of five horses during the last month, with Lake having the highest net gain in dollar value; the eight he claimed were worth a combined total of $54,000 more than the three he lost. On the flip side, Philip Aristone saw a net loss of five horses during the month, as he claimed two but lost seven via the claimbox.
For the week…
Claiming activity reached its highest level since the beginning of December this week.
The number of horses claimed rose to 60 — a seven percent gain from last week’s 56 — and the value of those claims rose by more than 12 percent, to $616,750. The average value of claimed horses during the week was $10,279, up nearly five percent from last week.
Laurel Park was once again the region’s busiest claiming track. Twenty-one horses changed hands via the claimbox, three more than were claimed at Penn National. The total value of the Laurel claims was $263,250, tops in the region, and their average value of $12,536 was also the highest. Penn National, with 18 horses claimed, was second in that category. And the gross and average values of claimed horses at Parx — $188,000 and $11,750, respectively — were second in those categories.
The claimbox report covers claiming activity at Laurel Park, Parx Racing, Penn National, and Charles Town.
