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 Claiming Crown Draws 86 Pre-Entries July 26, 2007 -- Henderson, KY -- Eighty-six of the nation’s finest claiming horses have passed the pre-entry stage for the ninth renewal of the rich Old National Bank Claiming Crown, which will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky. The seven-race event will boast guaranteed purses of $600,000 to qualifying horses from around the country that had started at least once since August 1, 2006 for a claiming price of $35,000 or less. Born in 1999 as an event designed to pay tribute to racing’s blue-collar heroes, the Claiming Crown has become the unofficial celebration of the nation’s claimers. The 2007 Claiming Crown will be the first run in Kentucky. Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, hosted seven of the first eight editions, with the lone exception being Philadelphia Park in 2002. Each of the day’s seven races drew at least 10 pre-entrants. The day’s featured event is the $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt for horses who have started for a claiming tag of $35,000 or less during the past year. Two of the Jewel’s top contenders are Semi Lost and Soupy, both of whom reside in the powerful, California-based barn of trainer Jeff Mullins. Interestingly, Semi Lost races for owner Robert Bone, who won the 2005 Claiming Crown Jewel with Desert Boom; and Soupy campaigns on behalf of owner Richard Englander, who took last year’s Jewel with Me My Mine and also accounted for the 2001 Jewel with Sing Because. Englander won back-to-back Eclipse Awards as the nation’s Champion Owner in 2001 and 2002. While the Jewel is the day’s richest race, one of the most interesting races on the card figures to be the $50,000 Claiming Crown Express at six furlongs for dirt sprinters who have run for a tag of $7,500 or less since last August 1. The probable favorite for that heat will likely be eight-year-old gelding Golden Hare who, since being claimed for $3,500 on August 22, 2006 by trainer Steve Asmussen, has gone on to win 11 of his next 12 starts. Asmussen, trainer of Preakness hero Curlin, is currently the nation’s winningest trainer with 269 victories so far this year. So perhaps it is no surprise that Golden Hare’s biggest threat in the Express may come from fellow Asmussen trainee Super Danny. That four-year-old gelding was claimed for $7,500 out of a one-mile race at Sunland Park this past February and has strictly sprinted for Asmussen, winning all five of his starts at Sunland Park and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie since the fortuitous claim. The other five Claiming Crown events are the $50,000 Iron Horse at one mile on the dirt for horses who have started for $7,500 or less in the last year; the $75,000 Glass Slipper at six furlongs on dirt for fillies and mares who have raced for $16,000 or less; the $75,000 Rapid Transit at six furlongs on dirt for 3-year-olds and up who have run for $16,000 or less; and a pair of $100,000 1 1/16-miles grass races for horses that have started for $25,000 or less: the Emerald for 3-year-olds and up and the Tiara for fillies and mares, ages three and up. The Claiming Crown will be televised live on HRTV. Click Here to Return to News Page
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