Why this makes sense: Purses in New York are at historical highs. Horses racing for $25,000 claiming races will be running for $50,000 purses. Because of this trainers notoriously drop better horses in for claiming prices well below their natural level in hopes of winning a lucrative purse. As such New York races continue to be ripe with excellent claim opportunities. Trainers are willing to trade horses for wins. Jeremiah Englehart is an expert horseman and knows the claiming game as good as anyone on the backstretch. He’s a second generation lifelong horseman and he knows the claiming game inside out. The primary goal of any claiming partnership is to turn a profit and Jeremiah fully understands this.

Vastly different from a yearling or 2-year-old partnership where we acquire a young unproven horse and then develop it, the claiming partnership is for those that have an interest in instant immediate action. A claimed horse can be running back as quickly as a few weeks for the new partners.

We consulted with our primary claiming trainer in New York, Jeremiah Englehart. Jeremiah is very active at the claiming box and he has his finger on the pulse of these races and these horses. He’s excited with the possibilities, especially in light of the record purses in New York. He personally likes to claim around the $40,000 level in New York. The horses running at that level run for $60,000 purses and, if one can be improved to an Allowance horse, the purses can be over $80,000 to $90,000.

In claiming races the racetrack requires that the cash be in the bookkeeper's account BEFORE the claim slip can be dropped. As such we are required to raise the capital in advance of the claim.

How it works: Hibiscus Stables assembles the claiming partnership. When the partnership fills we notify the trainer. He and Hibiscus Stables scour the entries each day looking for ideal claiming candidates. We drop a claim ticket only on horses that we believe are the best candidates. Upon successful claims we run the horse back in future races with an eye toward purse generation. Partners are kept updated every step of the way.