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 December 31.

The final Midlantic Claiming 7 of 2013 looked a lot like the previous several, with John Locke atop the leaderboard of trainers who have claimed the most horses over the last 30 days.

Locke, who led Penn National in wins during 2013, claimed 10 horses with a combined value of $75,000 during the last 30 days.  That gave him a two-horse lead over Scott Lake and Kieron Magee, each of whom claimed eight.  It was Lake, however, whose claims had the highest combined value, $100,500 (average: $12,562.50).  Among the top seven, Kathleen DeMasi led in average value of claimed horses; her five claims averaged $14,300.

Two new names appeared on the list this week.  Penn National-based Tim Kreiser’s six claims over the preceding 30 days placed him fourth on the list.  Marylander Ferris Allen checked in at seventh place with four claims.

On the flip side of the ledger, Scott Lake had 10 horses claimed from him over the period, three more than any other trainer.  Locke’s seven lost by the claimbox were second most.  Meanwhile, Kieron Magee had the highest net gain of horses; he added eight during the month via the claimbox and lost just two by that method, leaving him with a net gain of six horses and $69,500 in value.

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.

[boxify cols_use =”4″ cols =”4″ position =”none” order =”none” box_spacing =”5″ padding =”3″ border_width =”1″ border_color =”blue” border_style =”solid” height =”60″ ]

[/boxify]

For the week…

Racing finally returned to something like a normal schedule during the week, with Parx Racing resuming live action for the first time since early December.

Overall, 53 horses were claimed in the region with a combined value of $566,500.  Those numbers were up nearly 13 percent and about 21 percent over the prior week, respectively.  The average claimed horse was valued at $10,688.70, a 7.5 percent increase over the prior week.

Laurel was the busiest track for claiming activity, as 18 horses changed hands there, with a combined value of $157,750.  Fourteen horses were claimed at both Penn National and Parx Racing, and it was Parx which saw the most money change hands.  The 14 claims at Parx cost a combined $234,500, an average of $16,750 each.

Weekly Dollar Value of Horses Changing Hands