On Superbowl Sunday close to a full field of eleven horses went to post for the “Super Bowl Party Handicap” over a mile and and eighth on the Turf at Santa Anita. The straightforward race conditions were simply that runners must have run for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2014-2015. The culminating variety of horses entered produced a refreshingly intriguing contest and handicapping puzzle with horses whose last races run ranged from $12,500 claimers up to Allowance/Optional $80,000 claimers, with last out Beyer speed figures ranging from 65 to 89. Weights were allocated and spread from 124 at the top to 114 at the bottom. The purse was $40,000 plus $4,800 from the Cal Bred Owner Fund.
Hats off to whoever put this handicap together to produce a race in which trainers and owners could enter horses with a broad range of abilities for a pot of $40,000, (plus $4,800 from the the Cal Bred Owner Fund), without risk of them being claimed.
Across the country, but particularly in California, racing secretaries struggle to fill races each racing day and five and six horse fields are sadly the norm for traditional, rigidly framed claiming races. So why aren’t we seeing more of these handicap races being carded by racing secretaries? They would surely regularly fill with good sized fields. Betting handle would be strong due to the size of the field and the fascinating handicapping contest that the various abilities and weights carried produced. How about increasing the weight ranges and therefore the pool of horses to pull from further to 15, 20 or 25 pounds? Radical? Not at all. In Europe, Ireland, the UK, Australia and the rest of the world handicap races with full fields are run every day with horses carrying and winning with weights ranging from 105 to 135 pounds or more.
If traditional types of claiming races in conditions books do not have the supply of horses on the grounds to fill them then it makes obvious sense to innovate, combine and frame races around the horse population. The Super Bowl Party Handicap was a great example of how to do it. In this race runners were not for sale and the weights were allocated by the racing secretary at the draw. But there could be an additional option for an equally intriguing type of race that would provide fans with a full field of horses to handicap.
Let trainers and owners who are happy to run their horse for a tag determine their horses claiming values and weights by racing against horses in to be claimed for a broad range of different prices in the same race. Have the weight carried determined by the claiming price set by the trainer/owner. An example could be a claiming race with a maximum claiming price of $25,000 where horses to be claimed for that price carry 128 pounds. Each horse entered would be allowed 1 pound for each $1000 entered to be claimed for below $25,000. In for $25,000 – 128 pounds. In for $15,000 – 118 pounds. In for $10,000 – 113 pounds.
Worth a shot – isn’t it?
See the chart for the Super Bowl Handicap http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/SA020115USA7.pdf