Starter Allowances at Santa Anita

[ultracapper]

Finally took a few minutes to look at Condition Book #1 for the upcoming Santa Anita winter meet, and, if I'm reading the conditions correctly, it looks as if they have, for the second time in about 5 meets, changed the conditions to their most popular, standard, starter allowance condition.

For years, the "maiden" Starter Allowance for older horses was for non-winners of 2 lifetime that had broken their maiden for $40K claiming or lower. Then, about 2 years ago, made the subtle, but very significant change, to non-winners of 2 lifetime that had raced for a claiming price of $50K or less. Now horses that had won a MSW were eligible as long as they also raced at some time for a tag of $50K or less. Big difference.

This new change is really big, if I've read it correctly.

Forget the non-winners of 2 lifetime. It looks to me as if now the "meat and potato" starter allowance at Santa Anita is for horses that have raced for $50K or less, and have never won anything but maiden or claiming races. It looks as though the new condition is nothing more than an N1X with the provision that the horse has raced for a tag of $50K or less and never won any kind of allowance race.

This should cannibalize the N1X condition in a big way. This will now be the condition that any trainer with a claimer that looks to be progressing will enter to test it's metal. The N1X's will now be composed of lightly raced MSW winners and those that have cleared the new StAlw condition, as it looks like a horse with 10 claiming race wins is eligible for this new StAlw condition, as long as the horse hasn't won any kind of allowance race.

When Santa Anita introduced the first change, Del Mar waited a meet or 2 before re-writing their's to match Santa Anita's. We'll have 6 months to see how this works before DM must make a decision on that. N1X's are going to pay for this. They should be able to card 4 or 5 of these new StAlw a week. They are going to be looking at a lot of 5 and 6 horse fields for seldom run N1X conditions.

[ultracapper]

Thinking this through a little more, over night stakes are going to be full of N1X eligibles moving forward. This change may help those field sizes, but not necessarily the quality.

[Dan Montilion]

I think the key clause is "maiden OF claiming". This excludes winners of open claiming races. So essentially the conditions are for horses that have started for 50K or less and are non winners of anything other than a maiden claiming race. And that is if i read this correctly.

[ultracapper]

I think the key clause is "maiden OF claiming". This excludes winners of open claiming races. So essentially the conditions are for horses that have started for 50K or less and are non winners of anything other than a maiden claiming race. And that is if i read this correctly.

That is a weirdly written sentence. I thought it was a typo and was supposed to be "or" rather than "of".

I'll go back to the condition book and read the condition one more time, o-n-e
w-o-r-d a-t a t-i-m-e.

Winning a MSW would then disqualify the horse, even if it runs in a $50K or less claimer in the future. Is this your interpretation?

[ultracapper]

Alrighty. Re-read it, assuming no typo.

It now looks very N2L, however, the entered horse may be the winner of any maiden claiming race, and must have been entered at some time in a claiming race with a tag of $50K or less. This eliminates the MSW winners, but because the win is not restricted as to what claiming price the maiden win could have been attained at, the winners of those high priced maiden claiming races for 2yos and 3yos are eligible, as are the older horses on the turf for Mdn$62.5K, as long as they get entered for $50K or less at some time.The state bred allowance ineligibility needs to be written into the condition because in the conditions for those particular races it is written that winning of the state bred allowance will not be counted against eligibility. You'd think "other than maiden of claiming" would cover that, but no harm in closing a potential loophole.

Winners of MSW and those that broke maiden in state bred allowance, which there have been a few here and there, particularly down the hill, no longer are eligible for the StAlw condition. That looks to be the only change to it.

This will encourage the writing of more $40K N2L claimers, as MSW winners that weren't good enough for the N1X company, before the initial change a couple years ago, had to go to Cl$25K if they wanted to face N2L. I think a lot of connections thought that drop too steep for their MSW winners, and that's why they worked the MSW winners into the StAlw condition. But with the higher priced N2Ls they've been offering here and there over the past few meets, they can make the StAlw condition for the cheaper maiden breakers, as was the nature of the race for so many years.

If this is it, I like it. Before when the MSW winners weren't eligible for StAlwN2L, there were some subtle handicapping variables in the N2L world that even seasoned handicappers missed. Those variables are revived. There were many times when the TVG commentators, while discussing the race, totally misinterpreted those variables. I know they're not alone.

[ultracapper]

I think the key clause is "maiden OF claiming". This excludes winners of open claiming races. So essentially the conditions are for horses that have started for 50K or less and are non winners of anything other than a maiden claiming race. And that is if i read this correctly.

It took me 45 minutes in the post above to say exactly this.

[Tom]

SUBSTITUTE RACE NO 1 STARTER ALLOWANCE
Purse $33,000. (Plus up to $3,960 to Cal-Bred Winners) For Four Year Olds
and Upward Which Have Started For A Claiming Price Of $50,000 Or Less
and Which Have Never Won a State Bred Allowance or A Race Other Than
Maiden of Claiming.

This is what I see - A horse can have won a MSW and any number of claiming races. Any allowance winners are excluded.

[ultracapper]

This is what I see - A horse can have won a MSW and any number of claiming races. Any allowance winners are excluded.

That's what I saw when I read "Maiden OR claiming". But reading it as it's written, "maiden OF claiming", if this just means a maiden claiming race, then it's an N2L for maiden claiming winners.

I've just never noticed a maiden claiming race called "maiden of claiming".

[ultracapper]

Also excluded would be those that broke their maiden under this very condition. Again, like breaking maiden in the state-bred N1X, it doesn't happen often, but there have been instances of it, particularly down the hill. In the past, a horse that broke maiden in a StAlw could come right back at that level for a 2nd go. That's not the case now.

[Robert Fischer]

Clarification needed.

Anyone feel like reaching out to the racing office?

Asaro?

[Tom]

OF makes no sense to me.
I assumed it was a typo.

[ultracapper]

I was thinking exactly the same as you were, Tom. I thought it was a typo.

I won't say I've never seen "maiden of claiming", but I know it's never registered with me if I have.

[ultracapper]

GREAT!!! JUST EFFIN' GREAT.

Santa Anita's card for Wednesday the 26th just got posted up on Equibase. Yep. 3rd race is subject of this thread.

Conditions read, Maiden OR Claiming.

EFFIN' ridiculous.

By looking at the field, I know most of those horses, and their maiden winners at most, but still,

....Fire anybody that is worth a damn, write nonsense into your conditions, and then see what happens when you send it to the premiere information distributor in the industry.

Freakin' Figures.

[Dave Schwartz]

I will officially be hating this, trying to figure out a par, when I make the 2019 pars in March.

Hope I have enough races to make sense of it.

[surfdog89]

Thanks Capper for the informationj

[Tom]

This is the condition NYRA has been using for a while now.
Basically, you can run claimers and not get them claimed.
Keep you eyes open in these.

I posted on at NYRA here last year or so that paid like $15.00 and it had won 8 races - nothing else in the field had won more than 1.

[Robert Fischer]

This is the condition NYRA has been using for a while now.
Basically, you can run claimers and not get them claimed.
Keep you eyes open in these.

I posted on at NYRA here last year or so that paid like $15.00 and it had won 8 races - nothing else in the field had won more than 1.

That's an interesting angle, and probably works best at those mid-odds range, where the horse is slightly dismissed. :ThmbUp:

There was a similar one at Gulfstream over the past couple days. Paid pretty good in a full field IIRC.

One of the last things I remember my father telling/talking me about horseracing was "these starter allowance horses stink"...

I'm no historian, but I have a vague impression that 'Allowance' races were serious races during the 70's and 80's, while today that group a notch below stakes races is mostly called 'Optional Claiming'.

[ultracapper]

This is F!@&ng ridiculous.

They card one of these opening day. In the condition book it reads "maiden OF claiming", on the Equibase entries it reads "maiden OR claiming". The race opening day fills as if it's "OF", meaning all entries had only a maiden claiming win to their credit.

New Years Day, Race 1, again reads "OF" in the condition book, and "OR" on the Equibase site. This time, however, it fills as if "OR" applies. There are horses with multiple claiming race wins, another with a MSW win to it's credit, all horses that would not qualify if the wording in the condition book, YES, THE SANTA ANITA RACING OFFICE'S CONDITION BOOK, applied.

This is so effed up. I guess it gives the guy that's on the backstretch filling these races a little flexibility though. He can just ask the trainers what they need, and the racing office can just fill the race accordingly

[ultracapper]

As this starter allowance is now written, and as it's filled on New Year's Day, there are only 3 differences between it and an N1X, and they are relatively minor.

1) To qualify for this starter allowance, the horse must have raced for a claiming tag of $50,000 or less at some time,

2) If the horse has won a starter allowance at one time, it is not eligible for this starter allowance, and

3) A horse that has won a state-bred N1X allowance is not eligible to race in this starter allowance.

That's it. That's the only difference between this starter allowance and an N1X.

They could fill 4 or 5 of these starter allowance races a week if they wanted. Every horse that has ever ran for a tag and not won an allowance, hcp or stake is eligible.

What does Alw50000s mean in a Santa Anita running line in the past performances? It'll be anybody's guess. We'll have no idea what the make up of the field was. It could have been a field of N2Ls, or it could have had a handful of 8 time winners of mid level claiming races.

[Tom]

What does Alw50000s mean in a Santa Anita running line in the past performances? It'll be anybody's guess. We'll have no idea what the make up of the field was. It could have been a field of N2Ls, or it could have had a handful of 8 time winners of mid level claiming races.

then you have an edge.
Keep notes. YOu will have infor the crown doesn't.
The whales probably have it all, :rolleyes: but at least you have an opportunity.
I keep coppius notes on NYRA Str Alw races.

The Condition book is probably printed from templates for each race, not 100% written from scratch, so the typo will be OF until someone fixes it ( my guess).

Yes, you could have a multiple winner of $25-40,000 open races in a field of NW2 claimers, but the purse would make it less likely to happen.

Patience, weed hopper.
The river runs all day and all night and is still right there.

;)

[ultracapper]

Point taken. I just prefer an order to things I guess.

[ultracapper]

1/4/2019 Race #1

If you're going to play a track seriously, you better know and understand the condition book. Of the 9 entries in this race, 7 are dropping from N1X. That is where you start when you approach handicapping this race. Worry about numbers and pace scenario later. Connection intent is absolutely the first place you start with this race.

Edit: Actually 6 are dropping from conditioned allowance. the 7th I was counting is facing winners for the first time after a MSW win at Lone Star.

[Thomas Roulston]

Another variant is a starter allowance for horses which have started for a claiming price of $50,000 (or some lesser amount at smaller tracks) or less and have not won a race other than maiden, claiming or starter or optional claiming price $50,000.

[ultracapper]

Well, they corrected the typo in Condition Book #2. It's OR. So now multi win claimers are going to be filling those races. The last one they ran was a field of 8 and only the 6 had 3 wins, all the remaining horses had only their maiden win. The 3 race winner won and paid $14+. But the trainers are going to adjust quickly, and those kind of fields will disappear quickly.

Personal opinion is that they have made a mistake with the change, and I won't be playing the condition any longer. It's a completely different race than they've been running for the 18 years I've focused on SoCal. There is no StAlw N2L for older horses at Santa Anita at the moment. That's the race I'm looking for.