Ramseys, Maker looking for back-to-back success in Claiming Crown

Ramseys, Maker looking for back-to-back success in Claiming

Crown

The first major event of Gulfstream Park's Championship

Meet will take place Saturday with the 15th annual Claiming Crown, a collection of eight

stakes races worth a total of $1 million.

The Claiming Crown was established in 1999 to celebrate the

blue-collar horses who are the very foundation of the racing industry nationwide

and is billed as the claiming horse owner's Breeders' Cup. It is run under

starter allowance conditions and is open to horses who have raced for a claiming

price of $35,000 or lower since January 1, 2012. The Claiming Crown races have

price limits of $7,500, $16,000, $25,000 and $35,000.

The Claiming Crown's first stop at Gulfstream Park in 2012 was so well

received by horsemen, racing fans and bettors last year that track management

signed an agreement with the partnership of the National Horsemen's Benevolent

and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association to

host the event for three years.

"Racing fans across the country will enjoy this great

afternoon of racing," Gulfstream President Tim Ritvo said. "The horsemen have

supported the Claiming Crown once again with full fields and some of the

country's most popular horses. We're looking forward to a big day."

"Gulfstream was gracious in offering to

host the Claiming Crown last year, and it was a phenomenal success," said Phil Hanrahan,

CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "Based on

nominations and after looking at the overnight and how full the races got, it

looks like this year is going to be another really good year."

In 2012, horses sporting the red-and-white silks of Ken

and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Mike Maker swept four of the seven Claiming

Crown events, including the Jewel with Parent's Honor. They also came

within a head of winning a fifth with Major Marvel in the Emerald.

The popular

couple currently lead all owners in 2013 earnings with over $11.8 million. They

will have a chance to go one better in this year's Claiming Crown with

contenders entered in five of the eight races on Saturday.

The Ramseys Claiming Crown wins 12 months ago included the

seven-furlong Rapid Transit with Bernie the Maestro, and the six-year-old

Bernstein gelding

will tackle the $200,000

Jewel this year. The 5-2 morning-line favorite is

coming off a victory in the October 5 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Downs

and will face nine rivals in the Jewel.

Trainer Tim Glyshaw will send out Voodoo Storm in the 1 1/8-mile Jewel for

Hoosier Daddy's Stable after claiming the five-year-old son of Storm Cat for

$25,000 in August at Ellis Park.

"He looked like he was a pretty quality horse, and there

isn't much available in Kentucky for $25,000," Glyshaw said. "The only negative

thing I saw was that he didn't have any allowance conditions left -- that's why

we started him for open $50,000 (claimer) at Churchill."

Glyshaw didn't have any reservations that Voodoo Storm would be competitive in his first start for his new connections; he was

just concerned that it might have been the last start for his new connections.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey's reputation for claiming horses, particularly with the

Claiming Crown looming, preceded them.

"We had him long enough for two weeks to know that he was

better than he had been showing. I was just praying that the Ramseys wouldn't

claim him, because that happens quite a bit," Glyshaw said.

After finishing second at Ellis Park in that race, Voodoo

Storm returned to a relieved Glyshaw's barn. He proceeded to take an allowance

by 3 1/4 lengths and the Mountaineer Mile by 7 3/4 lengths in his past two at

Mountaineer Park.

"He's a little quirky," Glyshaw admitted. "He gets riled up in the post

parade; he gets riled up in the paddock,; he's always sweating. If you're a

handicapper watching him in the paddock, you wouldn't bet him because he's

washed out. He was washed out at Mountaineer when it was 30 degrees. That's

just him."

Although he was also nominated for the $125,000 Emerald, a turf race, Voodoo

Storm is scheduled for a Jewel clash with Bernie the Maestro.

"I told the owner, 'Why do we want to change things now?'

This purse is bigger, and going into the race, at least in my mind, I think it

has to be us and Bernie the Maestro as the favorites," Glyshaw said. "I think

it's going to be a nice race between those two. But I'm not throwing anyone

out."

The $125,000

Emerald at 1 1/16 miles on the grass

will take place one race before the Jewel and attracted

an overflow field of 16 but will be limited to 14 starters. Major Marvel narrowly missed in last year's

Emerald for the Ramseys and Maker, and he is currently on a six-race win

streak. The seven-year-old scored in the Unbridled Stakes at Louisiana Downs on

September 7 and followed that with a win in a tough optional claimer at

Churchill Downs on November 9.

Grip Hands, who has won three of his last four starts, will enter the Emerald in sharp form. The

five-year-old gelded son

of Giant's Causeway's victories came on synthetic surfaces, but trainer Graham

Motion expects him to be able to transfer his solid recent form to the

Gulfstream turf course.

"It's possible that he's a synthetic specialist, but I've

always found that synthetic horses seem to handle grass as well, nine times out

of 10," Motion said. "I think it's more of a coincidence that his best races

have been on synthetic surfaces and not grass."

Grips Hands has been victorious once on grass, showing

promise with a 2 3/4-length triumph over the Gulfstream green on December 3, 2011.

"He's always been a horse that's worked very well in the

morning. He's a very aggressive horse, hence his running style. He tends to be

close to the pace," Motion said. "He's put a string of decent races together.

He's a horse that seems to run well fresh, which is why we decided not to run

him between (winning at) Keeneland (on October 13) and now."

The Ramsey colors were carried to victory in the $125,000

Tiara by Starsilhouette in 2012, and the leading owners will be represented by

Deanaallen'skitten in Saturday's renewal of the 1 1/16-mile turf contest. The

six-year-old Kitten's Joy nare has hit the board in each of her six starts

on the Gulfstream turf course, and ships south off a game success in Aqueduct's Trevita Stakes for trainer Chad Brown on November 6.

Brother Bird prevailed for the Ramseys in the 2012

Iron

Horse, a 1 1/16-mile contest that is restricted to runners who have started for

a $7,500 or less, and returns for a second straight win in this year's $110,000

contest. The half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and

the ill-fated Dullahan recently returned from a nine-month break for Maker to be

third in a Churchill starter allowance. He is coming off a fifth-place finish to stablemate and fellow Iron

Horse entrant Horned Frog in an October 18 starter allowance over the Keeneland Polytrack.

Peter Walder, who finished among the top 10 trainers last

winter at Gulfstream in wins, is preparing three contenders for Saturday's Claiming Crown,

including Toh's Grey Cat in the Iron Horse.

"We claimed him just for the Claiming Crown," Walder said.

"He worked (Saturday) in 1:00 2/5 and he did it well, so we're looking for a

good effort from him. He really is one of those horses who seems to be getting

better with age."

The six-year-old gelded son of D'wildcat, was

claimed at Gulfstream on September 2 for a $7,500 tag. Walder brought Toh's Grey Cat

back six weeks later for a 4 1/4-length victory in a starter optional claimer at Calder.

The $110,000

Rapid Transit, a seven-furlong affair for

runners who have been offered for a tag of $16,000 or less, will feature 12

horses including Grande Shores, a homebred for Fred Brei's Jacks or Better Farm. The

half-brother to Grade 1-winning sprinter Jackson Bend was out of action for 12

months and could have been had for as little as $8,000 last February, but he has

rounded into form recently. After two victories at Calder this summer, the

five-year-old Florida-bred ran second in the September 14 Montbrook Stakes going a mile at

Gulfstream.

Walder will send out Loveyouallthetime in the Rapid Transit after claiming

the chestnut gelding for $10,000 in July. The Not for Love six-year-old has

since won three of his four races.

"I think the Claiming Crown is a great idea," added Walder,

who's saddled three horses previously in the series. "It's nice to have it in

your backyard, and Gulfstream does a great job with it. I'm looking forward to a

big day of racing."

The $110,000

Express lured a field of 11 horses who had started for $7,500 or less, and the six-furlong race will see Ribo Bobo attempt

to take his winning streak to 10. Claimed in three straight starts at Gulfstream

last winter, the five-year-old hasn't been offered for a tag since Mr. Amore Stable

and trainer Jason Servis snapped him up for $6,250 in March. Ribo Bobo's steady rise up

the class ladder includes a win in the Maryland Million Sprint Handicap at

Laurel on October 19 and a second-place finish November 27 in the Fabulous

Strike at Penn National.

Eight fillies and mares will get a chance to strut their stuff

going seven panels in the $110,000

Glass Slipper. Last year's heroine, Starship

Truffles, went on to win the Princess Rooney Handicap and sold for $1

million last month in Kentucky, a far cry from the maximum $16,000 claiming

price required to be eligible to run in this spot. Trainer Marty Wolfson, who

saddled Starship Truffles last year, will lead over Centrique and Lexington

Pearl on Saturday. Centrique, a well-bred daughter of Malibu Moon, was claimed

twice in 2012, but has been competing in tougher company this season with a trio

of stakes placings.

The Claiming Crown

will kick off with the debut of the $110,000

Iron Lady,

which will go off as the 3RD race to begin the 10-cent Ultimate 8 with a mandatory payout of a minimum of

$100,000.

The inaugural running

of the 1 1/16-mile Iron Lady, for fillies and mares who have

started for $7,500 or less, will see eight distaffers head to the gate but if Winiliscious runs to form, the real race may be for second. Previously trained

by Chuck Spina, the four-year-old earned a 102 BRIS Speed rating when romping by

16 lengths in a starter allowance at Laurel on October 12. Trainer Steve DiMauro has taken over her care on behalf of owner Top Shelf Stable.

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