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 February 11, 2014.
Because of difficult weather, Penn National didn’t race at all during the seven-day period covered by our Claimbox report. No matter — it was still the busiest claiming week of 2014 in the mid-Atlantic, and that led to some changes among our Midlantic Claiming 7 list of busiest trainers in the last 30 days.
Patricia Farro, second behind Scott Lake a week ago, took over the top spot following a week in which she made three claims worth a combined $38,500. In the last month, she’s made eight claims for a combined value of $98,500 (average: $12,312). Lake also claimed eight, the same as Farro, but the combined value of those horses, $89,000 (average: $11,125) lagged a bit behind. Ferris Allen, sixth on the list with five claims, had the highest average claim value, at $13,550.
Two trainers entered the list this week after not being on it during the prior week. Wayne Potts claimed four horses last week — three at Laurel and one at Parx — to move into fifth overall with six claims (average value: $11,750). Meanwhile, Jamie Ness made two claims to hit the list in seventh place, with five. Hugh McMahon and Alejandro Maymo dropped off the list.
Farro also tops the list for net gain of horses. In the last 30 days, she’s added eight via the claimbox while losing just two, giving her a net gain of six horses and $78,500 in value. Potts came in second in that area, with a net gain of five and $65,500 in value. On the other side of the ledger, Ness lost more horses than any other trainer in the last 30 days, having lost eight. Michael Pino was second in that category, having lost five.
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For the week…
Weather may have ruined Penn National’s racing schedule this week, but it did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of those claiming horses in what turned out to be the busiest claiming week of 2014.
Fifty-two horses changed hands via the claimbox in the mid-Atlantic, nearly a 24 percent increase from a week ago. The value of those horses also rose, by a more modest six percent, to nearly $10,500. As a result, the value of claimed horses rose by more than 31 percent from the prior week, to $545,250. Both the number of horses claimed and the value of those claims were the highest recorded since the last week in December.
Parx led the region’s tracks in claiming activity, with 25 horses claimed with a combined value of $269,000 (average: $10,760). Laurel was second in both categories, with 21 horses changing hands at a combined value of $205,250 (average: $9774). The six claims at Charles Town averaged $11,833, tops in the region.
The claimbox report covers claiming activity at Laurel Park, Parx Racing, Penn National, and Charles Town.
