Starter Allowance

Question
Good Evening Mr. Crocker.
I have a 6 yr old TB I am bringing back to the track after a layoff of 1 year. He has had 8 starts, win 2, and only been off the board 1 time. To avoid having him claimed in his first start or two (pretty much guarantee that will happen at our local track) I would prefer to try to get him in a starter allowance for his first race. Do you think this is 'silly' on my part? I just want to get a race or two back under his belt and see if he's as good as we think he may be, before putting him in for a tag. I will not continue to put the horse in over his head if he is 'outclassed' in the race, we'll just use this race to see 'where he can run'. I would appreciate any advice you could give me!
Thanks so much!
Janine.

Answer
Hi Janine,

I have to battle this decision all the time. I am not sure what track you are at and how tough the starter allowance races are, but they can be tougher than a 1 other than allowance, sometimes. You have a huge thing going for you in the fact that he has been off a year. I personally would look at the horse and ask why he has been off for so long and why are they dropping him in so cheap. If it's no secret what this horse has been doing and why he had the time off, then maybe it will be claimed. If you think you can at least hit the board, I would enter the starter allowance. If you see the form and it looks like your horse will have to run the race of his life just to get 4th, then I would consider looking at higher priced claiming races or what the allowance group looks like. I hope this helps and I wish you luck. Let me know how things turn out for you.

Christopher Crocker




http://CrockerRacngStable.com




Crocker Racing Stable and Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnerships