Today I mythically claimed Royal Suspect out of the 4th race at Saratoga. This NY-bred gelded son of Animal Kingdom should be able to sprint or route, on dirt or turf. His best Beyer was 62 going a mile at Santa Anita. The horse was a $40,000 purchase at last year’s Timonium sale.
This claim idea was presented to me last night by the guys at Zilla Racing. In the real world, I could have bought 3% for $900. The claiming price is $25,000. So with taxes and expenses the markup is quite small.
I really liked this idea better than the other dozen or so ideas that Zilla has proposed. The main reason is that the claim is off 8% trainer Bruce Levine. I hate the idea of trying to claim a horse off Maker or Rudy. I want to claim from the guys who are struggling.
Ten minutes before the race Zilla sent an e-mail saying they were going to pass. I decided that on a mythical basis I would stay with the claim. I really liked this idea. The horse might also benefit from changing from Kendrick’s over aggressive rides.
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Kendrick’s “over aggressive” ride took Royal Suspect right into the winner’s circle. I am glad I stuck with the idea. It will be educational to see where this horse will have to run next given his win. Can he really compete in a n1x allowance, or will it be $40 claimer n2L? We will be watching.
It turns out that Zilla could not make the claim because their was a business relationship between Zilla and the actual owner. It was not a physical reason for not making the claim. In the real world the horse was not claimed, so Zilla could have gotten him.
Buying A Race Horse 