I figure that I might as well begin blogging by explaining what the point of this blog will be. It is not to write about and admire the champions of the sport, though I love the graded stakes winning racehorses as much as the next racing fan, I feel that they get more then their share of time in the spotlight. Instead, this blog will be to celebrate the true warriors of racing, the supporting cast to the very few who reach the pinnacle of the sport. These horses are called claimers.
I am a teenage horse racing enthusiast. You could call my “local” racetrack Charles Town. It’s the only one I’ve ever been to, and while I admit that I fantasize about one day attending the Breeders’ Cup Races or the Kentucky Derby, I do find a certain charm in Charles Town. With its narrow little dirt racetrack, grandstand painted in rust and cream, and paddock set well below where the bettors stand, Charles Town is rather unique. Though it was originally a dumping ground for the country’s worst Thoroughbreds, Charles Town has never given up its quest to be recognized in the racing world, and now it has, with the Grade 3, 1 million dollar Charles Town Classic, run in April each year.
But the horses that capture my imagination are not the pricy stakes winners that arrive each for the Classic, instead, they are the quiet, workmanlike creatures populate the cheap claiming races day in and day out. All around the country, these horses run relentless, changing owners, trainers and jockeys frequently, in a thankless job that actually gives us the industry of Thoroughbred racing. Without these horses, the whole world of racing would crumble. Any fan knows that betting largely supports the industry as the largest source of income. Without the cheap races held daily for horse players to bet on, this source of income would be gone. Why? Simply because not all Thoroughbreds are good enough to run in and win stakes races, no matter how pricy the pedigree. There would not be enough quality horses to fill daily cards of 7-9 stakes races, and the sport would simply fall apart.
With these horses churning along steadily, they provide a product for horse players to test their handicapping skills. In turn, the money goes into producing and marketing the stakes races and the horses that compete in them. It’s a vicious cycle, and often thankless job for the claimers for make horse racing possible.
But now, I will be profiling the journey of some of these said horses. It’s disheartening how many times these horses change hands, and how many times they lose races- and it’s questionable why some of them keep running well past the typical retirement of stakes horses, age 4 or 5, well into their “twilight years” for a racehorse of 8 or 9, or sometimes even 12. Often enough, when their racetrack days are done, these horses just fade away, never to be heard from again. But these horses deserve recognition when they are on the track, and now, hopefully, some of them will get it.
I will be writing about horses that raced at least once at Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia while I was in attendance. I hope you enjoy the look at the pedigrees and careers of some of these gutsy steeds.
Note: Often, past performance data is sketchy and may not always be 100% correct. I will try my best to provide accurate information for each horse. Owner change data is not available either, unfortunately.
