How does the claiming system work?

Question

i'm in australia, no such system here,do you actualy risk loosing your horse?

Answer 1

Excellent answer Karin C.

Answer 2

If you enter your horse in a claiming race, then anyone who is eligible to claim can drop a claim into the "claim box" before the start of the race, and provided they have money in their account in the racing secretary's office, when the gates open the horse changes hands.  (Any money won in the race where the horse was claimed goes to the owner who entered the horse in the race.)

To be eligible to claim a horse, a person usually has to have started a horse at that race meet or have an "open claim" permit from the stewards.  A person can get this if their last horse was claimed away from them at an early racemeet.  They have to be a licensed owner in good standing, and they have to have enough money in their horseman's account with the racing secretary to pay for the claim, plus sales tax.  (There have been several occasions that I know of where a claim was voided because of insufficient funds in the account of the person claiming the horse.)

Many tracks here card "optional claiming" races, where an owner who has previously exposed his/her horse to a claim can opt to enter the horse in the race but not to be claimed.

I've heard that sometimes there are "gentlemen's agreements" among owners and trainers to not claim horses, and I think that most trainers (in practice, it's usually the trainer, acting as agent for the owner, who drops in the claim) are very reluctant to claim a horse from a trainer who only has a couple of horses in his or her stable.

If an owner or trainer acting as agent for an owner claims a horse, and the owner of the horse refuses to surrender the horse to the new owner, the stewards will usually ban the owner who refuses to yield the claim from entering horses at the meet.

Sometimes, on taking possession of a claimed horse, the new owner can find cause for voiding the claim-- most commonly, if the claimed horse is not as represented (e.g., the claimed horse was represented to be a colt and is in fact a gelding, or vice versa, or if there is a case of mistaken identity or other misrepresentation).  

When a horse has been claimed from a race, the stewards have a representative go down to the track and clip a "claimed" tag to the bridle of the claimed horse.  So you know immediately if a horse has been claimed.

Answer 3

Karin C thats a great answer and you are right