The Kentucky Derby is, of course, contested annually at Churchill Downs, and the Kentucky Oaks writes its way into history each year beneath the twin spires as well. The Louisville track has played host to the Breeders’ Cup nine times, and contests several other Grade 1 races during its annual meets.
But it’s blue-collar horses who make up the majority of programs at Churchill Downs, and elsewhere. On Saturday, those horses are celebrated and get a rich prize to contest at the popular Claiming Crown, which offers $1.1 million across eight races with starter-allowance conditions, meaning horses must have competed for a certain claiming level or cheaper within a given range of time.
This is the second time in the last three years Churchill has played host to the Claiming Crown, which was created in 1999 by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) along with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). The races were contested in Louisville in 2022 and at Fair Grounds last year.
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“The Claiming Crown is proud to be back at one of the most iconic venues in sports,” Eric Hamelback, CEO of the NHBPA, said in a press release. “This prestigious setting brings national attention to the horses and horsemen who often go underappreciated by allowing them to compete on one of the industry’s biggest stages. Participation in the Claiming Crown and boosting visibility of claiming races validates the depth of talent we see in horse racing. Every horse, regardless of its racing level, plays a vital role in our industry.”
This level of horse is often relied upon to fill race cards around the country – and they have shown up at the entry box for Saturday. The average field size for each of the eight starter races is 14.8 entrants, with seven of the eight races oversubscribed – including the feature, the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, which has the maximum field of 12, with two also-eligibles on the program.
Entrants in the main bodies of these fields were bred in 10 different states – Kentucky, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington – plus Ontario, England, and Ireland. They come from 76 different trainers’ barns and made their most recent starts at 27 different tracks.
“The Breeders’ Cup, to me, is inaccessible to a lot of stables,” Tom Van Berg, who has four horses entered on Saturday, said in an NHBPA press release. “We just don’t have the financial backing, the bloodstock. You’re dealing with a lot of barns that have 100, 150, 200 horses. Claiming Crown makes it accessible to the mid-level barns, the smaller stables. It gives smaller owners a big chance on a big day, to have the Breeders’ Cup experience but for the working class, blue collars, so to speak.”
The Claiming Crown Jewel is for 3-year-olds and up who have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less in 2023 or 2024. In addition to an affinity for the 1 1/8-mile distance on the main track, an affinity for this track, or a certain type of track, may also be in play.
Through the first 12 racing days of the Churchill Downs fall meet that began Oct. 27, there were 92 dirt races won by horses with a prior start over the track; four others were taken by first-time starters. Local experience has been important. More than half of those dirt races, 47, were won by horses who were coming out of another race at Churchill Downs; the next-highest number was Keeneland, with 24 horses exiting a start there.
Jewel entrants General Mathis – who is perfect in multiple starts at this distance – and Hurry Hurry exit wins at Churchill, while Beyond Best and Winston Wolf also made their most recent starts there. Coming from Keeneland is last-out winner Surface to Air, along with Guntown and Laughing Boy, the latter taking a big class drop off a layoff. Several of these will offer value in the wagering.
Grade 3 winner Money Supply, also taking a class drop, has a different sort of résumé – but he has solid back class on dirt, plus plenty of suggestions that he’ll perform well moving back to the main track here, all of which make him a worthy morning-line favorite.
Money Supply was claimed for $35,000 by Joe Sharp for owner Jordan Wycoff in August 2023. Since then, the horse has won six races, including the 2023 Jewel at Fair Grounds.
“That was when he just started getting good,” Sharp said in a video interview from the Kentucky HBPA. “The grit he showed in that race last year definitely gave us some confidence that he might be turning into a horse that’s a little more serious.”
Indeed, Money Supply’s performances this year have included wins in the Grade 3 Mineshaft on the Fair Grounds dirt early this year and the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial on the Indiana turf in the summer.
The Churchill Downs dirt track is commonly considered one that turf and synthetic-type horses do well on, due to the typical foot shape of those horses meshing well with the composition of the track. That’s been borne out by results at this November meet. Several dirt-race winners were coming off non-dirt starts, including last-out starts at the all-turf Kentucky Downs, all-Tapeta at Turfway, and Woodbine, which uses only turf and Tapeta. Money Supply made his most recent start at Kentucky Downs.
Although she is no longer in his barn, Sharp helped develop another of the bigger names on this card, multiple stakes winner Dana’s Beauty, who goes in the $150,000 Claiming Crown Tiara. The race, at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, is for fillies and mares who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in the last two years.
Sharp sent out Dana’s Beauty to an impressive win in the Latonia Stakes in March at Turfway. Shortly afterward, she sold for $450,000 to Resolute Racing at the Keeneland April horses of racing age sale and is now in the barn of Mike Maker, to whom Sharp is a former assistant. Maker has a record 22 Claiming Crown victories.
Dana’s Beauty has raced exclusively in stakes company since her sale, including winning the Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star and the Ricks Memorial at Remington. She was second to Walkathon in the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile at Ellis.
Along with Money Supply in the Jewel, there is another defending race winner on the card, Caramel Chip in the $100,000 Ready’s Rocket Express at six furlongs on dirt for older horses. The other Claiming Crown races are the $150,000 Emerald, at 1 1/16 miles on turf; the $150,000 Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial, at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf; the $125,000 Rapid Transit Starter, at seven furlongs on dirt; the $100,000 Kent Stirling Memorial, at 1 1/16 miles on dirt; and the $100,000 Glass Slipper, at a mile on dirt for fillies and mares.
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