What is a claiming race?

Not to be confused with a claiming jockey, a claiming race is a race in which every horse can be bought or ‘claimed’ for a set value, regardless of its finishing position, afterwards. Claiming races may have different eligibility conditions, but essentially all work the same way. Subject to the top claiming price, the weight carried by each horse is linked to its claiming price; a trainer can reduce the weight carried, typically by £1,000 per lb, by reducing the claiming price when making the entry. However, once the claiming price is set, it is printed on the race card and the horse cannot be bought for more or less than this price.

If and when a horse is claimed, the original owner remains liable for race entry fees, jockey fees, etc. but, by the same token, retains any prize money due. Of course, the original owner may not wish to lose the horse, in which case he or she may make a so-called ‘friendly’ claim, in person or via an agent. Once claimed, the horse immediately becomes the responsibility of the new owner. If the same horse is subject to two or more claims, the successful claimant is determined by ballot.

Not to be confused with a claiming jockey, a claiming race is a race in which every horse can be bought or ‘claimed’ for a set value, regardless of its finishing position, afterwards. Claiming races may have different eligibility conditions, but essentially all work the same way. Subject to the top claiming price, the weight carried by each horse is linked to its claiming price; a trainer can reduce the weight carried, typically by £1,000 per lb, by reducing the claiming price when making the entry. However, once the claiming price is set, it is printed on the race card and the horse cannot be bought for more or less than this price.

If and when a horse is claimed, the original owner remains liable for race entry fees, jockey fees, etc. but, by the same token, retains any prize money due. Of course, the original owner may not wish to lose the horse, in which case he or she may make a so-called ‘friendly’ claim, in person or via an agent. Once claimed, the horse immediately becomes the responsibility of the new owner. If the same horse is subject to two or more claims, the successful claimant is determined by ballot.

Before First Flow, what was Kim Bailey’s last Grade One winner?

After he had given 17lb and upwards away to his rivals when recording a game, albeit narrow, victory, on heavy going, in the Castleford Handicap Chase at Wetherby in December, 2020, Kim Bailey described First Flow, who was completing a five-timer, as an ‘extraordinary horse’. However, the Andoversford trainer had further cause for celebration the following month, when the 9-year-old belied odds of 14/1 to win the Grade One Clarence House Chase at Ascot and, in so doing, beat the reigning two-mile champion chaser, Politologue, by 7 lengths at level weights.

Victory in the Clarence House Chase was also notable for the fact that it was the first time in 9,443 days, or 25 years, 10 months and 5 days, that Bailey had saddled a Grade One winner. Remarkably, his last winner at the highest level was Master Oats, ridden by the long-retired Norman Williamson, in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1995! To be fair, having won the Champion Hurdle 48 hours earlier with Alderbrook, Bailey was completing the Champion Hurdle – Cheltenham Gold Cup double, making him the last trainer to do so. Nevertheless, fans of nostalgia might like to know that, at the time, John Major was Prime Minister, a pint of lager cost £1.66 and ‘rogue trader’ Nick Leeson had just caused the collapse of Barings Bank.

How many times has Oisin Murphy failed a racecourse breath test?

Oisin Murphy, who was champion jockey in 2019 and 2020, hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, not for the first time, on Friday, October 8, 2021. For the second time in his career, Murphy failed a racecourse breathalyser test and was consequently stood down for the day by the stewards and referred to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Disciplinary Panel.

Murphy led the jockeys’ championship by 11 winners at the start of the day and his five rides at Newmarket were to have included Mise En Scene in the Group 1 Bet365 Fillies’ Mile. Murphy tweeted that his test result had been ‘under the drink-drive limit [35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath] but over the riding limit [20 micrograms per 100 millilitres]’.

Murphy first failed a racecourse breathalyser test at Salisbury on June 16, 2019, as a result of which he was stood down for the day and received a caution. Fortunately for him, his latest infraction fell outside the 24-month timeframe stipulated by the BHA and, as such, is treated as a ‘first offence’, rather than a ‘second offence’, for which a 10-day ban is the entry point. Of course, Murphy also served a three-month ban, imposed by France Galop, after testing positive for cocaine at Chantilly in July, 2020, so may need to moderate his off-course behaviour if he is to remain at the top of his profession.

Who was the first female jockey to ride in the Grand National?

The first female jockey to ride in the Grand National was 21-year-old Charlotte Brew who, in 1977, partnered her own horse, the 12-year-old Barony Court. A safe, if rather slow, jumper Barony Court had qualified for the National by finishing fourth in the fourth in the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase, over the Grand National fences, the previous season. Although her mount was an apparent no-hoper, the significance of her participation in the celebrated steeplechase, following the enactment of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, made Brew front-page news beforehand.

Set off at 200/1, Barony Court was still standing at the fourth-last fence, where he refused, not once, but four times, before Brew finally gave up. Unfortunately, after the race, Charlotte Brew and Barony Court were rather overshadowed by Tommy Carberry and Red Rum, who beat Churchtown Boy by 25 lengths to record his historic third win in the National, after his previous victories in 1973 and 1974. In fact, as Red Rum was being led towards the winners’ enclosure, Brew was spotted by Sir Peter O’Sullevan, in the vicinity of the Melling Road, hacking Barony Court back towards the grandstands.

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