What do you know about Maiden Claimers?
 

What do you know about Maiden Claimers and are willing to share? I have been beating most everything else recently except Maiden Claimers. Now the sensible thing to do would be to skip Maiden Claiming races. ( I wouldn't be a horseplayer if I liked to do the sensible things. ) Passing races isn't in my vocabulary. So I need to figure them out.

Maiden Claimers fall somewhere between Maidens and Runners. So I have been waffling as to my approach. A Friend suggests Ability Time for them. I'll be checking this out. Anything else?

i have a terrible time with maidens so I save my money and bet more on the races I like. That is what I am supposed to do.

I take a FTS if the odds are good and the workouts are great. otherwise I do what you do. bet ability time and ask god why did I bet that horse!:D

Interesting, i would do the exact opposite. I figure that if a trainer puts a FTS horse into a maiden claimer, the trainer doesnt really see much of a future for the horse since he is willing to lose him first time out. More so, if the horse has fast workouts...you dont risk losing a fast horse especially at first asking.

I will handicapping Mcls, i usually look for either the least worst horse. I also always scan to see if any horse if dropping from a msw, and if they showed a little something in that race he might be a play. I usually avoid the lowest level of tracks though. rbj

What do you know about Maiden Claimers?
 

Sometimes old saws are true.

The biggest class drop in racing is from MdSpWt to MdClm. Remember that, and concentrate on second and third time starters who are still learning the game.

I love MdClm races, like yesterday's 4th at Belmont.


Ocala Mike

Okay, Let's assume no class droppers from MSW into Maiden Claimers. What I'm after is calculating them not angles.

Thanks

THANKS FOR YOUR INFO GUYS!

A lot of intent depends on what the horse might be worth in the first palce. If someone paid 20k for a horse 3 months ago at a 2 year old training sale and it's in a 50k maiden as a first time starter it's not always a bad thing. If the horse was not sold at auction and is of moderate breeding it is not always a bad thing. The opposite is often true. Big priced horses in maiden claimers as a first time starter is not a good thing.

Maiden claimers are often like any other race as long if all the horses have started. Speed, trips, drops in class and signs of improvement all point the way. They get tricky when there are a lot of first time starters. Be careful of over hyped horses in these races as many sketch favorites show up becuse there is not much to go on.

I'm confused why you'd want to ignore class droppers when that's one of the best ways to beat maiden claiming races. You can still get a price because the droppers usually look SO terrible at the MSW level. It might be an "angle" but I wouldn't ignore it.

I treat them the same way then, look at the race shape/pace shape and start matching them, they're still just horses. rbj

Honestly, the next time you happen to see a $50K or higher Maiden Claiming race please let me know, because i dont find too many if any of those. rbj

I look for horses that I think can control the pace and class droppers that ran a decent race in strong field that doesn't look as good as it was on paper.

It's funny because I get my best results in graded stakes and maiden claimers but they are not handicapped alike.

I have come to realize two things about maiden claimers...

1.) They often improve dramatically in their second lifetime start.

2.) The horse that has recorded the highest debut race Beyer figure always deserves a second look...

I prefer playing maiden races off of physicality.

What do you know about Maiden Claimers?
 

That should be carved in stone!!!


Ocala Mike

The number is just an example but they run many in the summer at Saratoga and there is one next Friday at Belmont. Use lower numbers if you like.