by Frank Vespe

Claiming activity in the mid-Atlantic region through May 31, 2016, is now more than 16 percent behind the level of claiming registered in the same period of 2015.

That came after May 2016 saw more than 30 percent fewer claims than did May 2015, according to an analysis of Equbase statistics.

Overall, 184 horses were claimed in the region in May 2016.  That was just one fewer than the prior month — but it was 31 percent behind the 267 claimed in the same month in 2015.  The average claimed horse fetched a price of $11,220, with the gross value of claimed horses hitting $2,064,500.  That gross was 15 percent higher than the April number, but it was nearly 35 percent behind May 2015.

There were likely a number of reasons for the decreased claiming activity.  For one, as a result of the calendar, both Monmouth Park and Delaware Park opened slightly later than they had in 2015, and both ran two fewer May days than they had last year.  For another, the equine herpesvirus quarantine at Parx Racing meant that no horses could enter or leave the grounds for about half the month, putting a drag on claiming activity; claiming activity fell from 84 horses claimed in May 2015 to 65 last month.

What’s more, because of resurfacing issues, Charles Town ran just eight days in May, down from 18 in May 2015.  Partially as a result, claiming activity dropped from 19 horses in May 2015 to just five last month.

Yet some of the declines appear to be for different reasons.  At Laurel Park — which operated into May for the first time in recent years — and Pimlico, the combined number of claims fell from 64 in 2015 to 52 this year, a drop of almost 19 percent.  And although Monmouth ran seven days this May instead of the nine it ran last May, that alone would not account for the staggering drop in claiming activity it saw: from 66 horses (more than seven per card) to 26 (fewer than four).

Through five months, a total of 785 horses have been claimed in the region, versus 940 a year ago.  The total of value of 2016 claims, just shy of $7.9 million, is almost 21 percent behind the $9,950,500 through five months of 2015.

Despite the quarantine, Parx Racing was the busiest track in the region in terms of claiming activity, with 65 claims for a total of $646,500 (average: $9,946).  The 52 claims recorded in Maryland (18 at Laurel and 34 at Pimlico) totaled $720,000 (average: $13,846), the region’s highest gross.  And the average at Monmouth Park, $14,673 (26 claims for $381,500) led the region.  In addition, there were 29 horses claimed at Penn National, seven at Delaware, and five at Charles Town.

The claimbox report for March covers Charles Town, Delaware Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park, Parx Racing, Penn National, and Pimlico Race Course.

 CLAIMING TRAINERS FOR THE MONTH

[su_row] [su_column]Who’s claiming horses

  1. Patricia Farro — 10 claims for $101,500.00
  2. Kieron Magee — 9 claims for $100,000.00
  3. Jamie Ness — 7 claims for $91,500.00
  4. Wayne Potts — 6 claims for  $60,000.00
  5. Marcos Zulueta — 5 claims for $58,500.00
  6. Michael Pino — 4 claims for $50,500.00
  7. Kevin Patterson — 4 claims for $47,500.00 [/su_column]
[su_column size=”1/2″] Who’s losing horses

  1. Patricia Farro — 11 lost for $119,000.00
  2. Cal Lynch — 4 lost for $52,500.00
  3. Greg Sacco — 4 lost for $37,500.00
  4. Scott Lake — 4 lost for $20,500.00
  5. Kelly Breen — 3 lost for  $53,500.00
  6. Jeff Runco — 3 lost for  $35,000.00
  7. Marcos Zulueta — 3 lost for $35,000.00 [/su_column][/su_row]

Overall 108 trainers claimed at least one horse during the month, while 128 had one or more claimed away.

 CLAIMING TRAINERS YEAR-TO-DATE

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