Deadline extended to Tuesday Nov. 21 to make a horse eligible for the Claiming Crown

The deadline to make a horse eligible for the Claiming Crown on Dec.2 at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans has been extended to Tuesday Nov. 21. Click here for printable eligibility request form.

The deadline had been Saturday Nov. 18. Horses can be made eligible for $200 per race to the eight-race Claiming Crown, which is designed to give American racing’s blue-collar work horses their own championship-style day. Horses that aren’t made eligible by Nov. 21 will require a $1,000 supplemental entry fee to run.

Eligibility Request Forms, as well as individual race conditions, are available at claimingcrown.com/forms.

The Claiming Crown races are conducted under starter-allowance conditions, meaning they are restricted to horses that have competed at least once for a certain claiming level or cheaper during a designated time frame, in this case 2022 or 2023 (except for the Express and Iron Horse that have a lifetime condition). Purses for the eight Claiming Crown races will range from $75,000 to $200,000 for the Jewel. Total purses will be $1 million, with another $25,000 in each race available in purse supplements for accredited Louisiana-bred horses.

A joint venture of the National HBPA and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the 2023 Claiming Crown will be staged in cooperation with the Louisiana HBPA and the host track. 

For complete information about the Claiming Crown, go to www.claimingcrown.com or contact Fair Grounds Racing Secretary Scott Jones at 504-944-5515 or email [email protected].

Jennie Rees is a communications and advocacy specialist in the horse industry who spent 32 years covering horse racing for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal before taking a corporate buyout. In addition to handling communications for the Kentucky HBPA, Rees is Kentucky Downs’ publicity director, manages in-season racing publicity for Ellis Park and serves as a consultant to the National HBPA. Other projects include the Preakness Stakes, Indiana Grand’s Indiana Derby Week and work for various HBPA affiliates and horsemen’s associations.