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 Claiming Crown 2007 Set For Saturday, August 4 at Ellis Park Lexington, KY -- The Claiming Crown, a special $600,000 purse day for thoroughbred racing's "blue collar" runners, will be held for the first time in Kentucky at Ellis Park on Saturday, Aug. 4. "Everyone at Ellis Park is excited about hosting this unique day of racing which annually has brought together hard-knocking horses from all sections of the country," said Ron Geary, who purchased the Western Kentucky track from Churchill Downs last year. This will be the ninth renewal of the Claiming Crown and seven of the previous eight were hosted by Canterbury Park, where the event has been the Minneapolis-area track's biggest day. "We know how successful the Claiming Crown has been at Canterbury and now it’s Kentucky’s turn to show the racing industry what we can do!,” said Geary. “We’re determined the make this THE event of the year for the fans in the tri-state area that supports Ellis Park.” The Claiming Crown 2007 again will include seven races -- five on dirt and two on turf -- for horses which have started at least once in the past year for claiming prices ranging from $7,500 to $35,000. Two distance changes will be made due to the configuration of the Ellis Park track layout. The $50,000 Iron Horse will be shortened to a mile and the $150,000 Jewel will go back to its original distance of 1-1/8 miles. “We also plan an innovative day of wagering as part of The Claiming Crown,” stated Geary, “so we want the horseplayers across America to stay tuned for more details as well.” Nominations for the 2007 Claiming Crown will close Friday, April 27. For additional information please contact Claiming Crown Coordinator Nat Wess at 800-340-6361, Ext. 6411 or go to www.claimingcrown.com. Click Here to Return to News Page
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