The aptly named Double Your Money produced the biggest upset of the day when he rallied to a 1 1/4-length victory in the $224,943 Claiming Crown Jewel, the richest race of the program for blue-collar horses on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The consistent gelding, somewhat overlooked in the full field of 14, returned $21.46 to his backers.
The Claiming Crown was inaugurated in 1999 in a partnership between the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. It serves as a showcase program for lower-level horses who make up the majority of daily races around the country, offering eight starter allowance races with total purses of $1.1 million. The card is also designed to provide a "big day" experience for smaller owners of stables. Showing the nationwide appeal of the program, Saturday's eight winners made their most recent starts at seven different tracks, for eight different barns.
“I got so excited and nervous after the race that I got sick,” said trainer Benjamin Dunn, who trains and co-owns Double Your Money. “It means the world to me to run a horse here. This horse doesn’t stop running.”
The Claiming Crown Jewel, at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is for 3-year-olds and up who had started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less in 2024-25. Double Your Money, a 4-year-old gelding by Demarchelier, races for Dunn, in partnership with Chris Mancusi. The gelding was a $30,000 claim in October 2024, and has been a profitable one. His record for 2025 now stands at 12-5-6-1. After finishing second in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup in September at Parx Racing, he came to the Claiming Crown program off a starter allowance win Oct. 18 at Aqueduct.
With Melvis Gonzalez in the irons, Double Your Money was still eighth, but less than three lengths back of leader Happy Strike, who was about to fade, at the quarter pole. He worked his way to the three-path to split horses in the stretch, coming alongside Dr. Storm, who had rallied from 11th to assume the lead, and Point Dume. He forged his way to the lead in the final stages, and cleared.
Cadet Corps rallied from 12th to edge Welaka by a neck for second. They were followed by Dr. Storm, Point Dume, Alternate Reality and Dance Some Mo in a dead heat for sixth, Najavo Warrior, Brilliant Man, American Law, Bernin Hot, Happy Strike, Overstatement, and Gilded Craken.
The final time on the fast track was 1:50.89.
In other races on the program:
Curlin’s Malibu ($8.82), with Luis Saez in the irons, outgamed favored Freedom Road by a neck to win the $100,000 Claiming Crown Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial, with Time for Trouble, a two-time winner of this race, in third. Curlin’s Malibu, trained by Joe Sharp for Jeanine Cumiskey, was making his 41st career start.
In a battle of frequent victors to the winner’s circle, Concrete Glory ($3.76) set a pressured pace and edged Wound Up by a head to repeat in the $100,000 Claiming Crown Ready’s Rocket Express, a six-furlong dirt sprint. Concrete Glory, who had Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and Big Frank Stable, was winning for the 17th time in 29 career starts. Wound Up has won 10 times from 23 outings.
Irad Ortiz had another winner with Ashima ($6.78) in the $150,000 Claiming Crown Tiara for fillies and mares on the turf. The filly rallied from seventh, and split horses at the three-sixteenths pole to bid for the lead, then held on by three-quarters of a length over Settling Storm, who had been last in the field of 12 around the turn. Ashima runs for trainer Sal Santoro and Wallace R. Moore Jr.
Next Girl ($8.24) nosed out Sadie the Goat in the $100,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper, a one-turn mile for fillies and mares. Jose Ortiz was in the irons for WWCD, LLC, and trainer W. Robert Bailes.
Nation ($15.64) gave Irad Ortiz another winner and had the day’s biggest winning margin, pulling clear by 6 1/4 lengths to win the $125,000 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit for trainer Robert Hess Jr. and Koentopp Racing.
The $150,000 Claiming Crown Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial for turf sprinters included several consistent runners, and that showed as it came down to a blanket finish. Shape Note ($19) and Jose Ortiz edged Final Verdict by a neck, with High Front just three-quarters of a length back in third. The gelding is trained by Mike Maker for Paradise Farms and David Staudacher.
A defending winner closed out the card, as Echo Lane ($6.90), under Saez, wore down pacesetting Gewurztraminer by a length to repeat in the $175,000 Claiming Crown Emerald on the turf. The gelding is trained by Rohan Crichton for Anthony Rogers.
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