Claiming Crown Returns to Fair Grounds for 2023

FAIR GROUNDS, NORTH AMERICA’S SECOND OLDEST THOROUGHBRED TRACK AND HOME TO THE LOUISIANA DERBY, WILL HOST THE 25TH CLAIMING CROWN LATER THIS YEAR.

The 2023 Claiming Crown will be staged at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans for the first time since 2011. The eight-race event worth $1 million in base purses will be run Saturday, December December 2, as announced by Claiming Crown founders the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) along with Fair Grounds.

The 25th Claiming Crown marks the second straight year the series has gone to a Churchill Downs Inc.-owned locale. The 2022 races were held for the first time at the company’s flagship track in Louisville after a 10-year run at Gulfstream Park in Florida. Fair Grounds staged a truncated version of the event in 2011 when the Claiming Crown moved from the summer to the late fall for the first time.

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 less during a designated time frame, in this case 2022 or 2023. Purses for the eight Claiming Crown races will range from $75,000 to $200,000. Additional purse supplements will be available for accredited Louisiana-breds in an arrangement between the Louisiana HBPA, the host horsemen’s association, and Fair Grounds.

Conceived to be a Breeders’ Cup-style event for claiming horses, the

Claiming Crown Through the Years

Claiming Crown was created in 1999 by the National HBPA and TOBA. The program gives Thoroughbred racing’s workhorses, their owners and trainers a day in the spotlight in recognition of their importance to filling out race cards

Claiming Crown Handle

across the nation.

“Big Easy, here we come,” said National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback, who was raised in the Pelican State and graduated from Louisiana State University. “The Claiming Crown was designed to celebrate our hard-knocking, unsung heroes of the turf. What better place—especially for our 25th running—than New Orleans? Beyond what we know will be a festive atmosphere, the Fair Grounds is iconic in American racing history, first running races in 1838 and with a track surface long acclaimed among the best in the country.”

“We are honored and excited to return to the Fair Grounds and New Orleans,” said TOBA President Dan Metzger. “We would like to thank the Louisiana HBPA and Churchill Downs for their commitment to the event and the owners and trainers who will participate in the 2023 Claiming Crown for their support.”

“We were thrilled with the response to the first Claiming Crown at Churchill Downs and look forward to bringing this wonderful event back to New Orleans,” said CDI Executive Director of Racing Gary Palmisano, who grew up in New Orleans and is the son of the late trainer Gary Palmisano Sr. “Fair Grounds played host to the Claiming Crown in 2011, but there is no denying this event is bigger and better than ever. We are excited to partner with the National HBPA, TOBA and the Louisiana HBPA to make 2023 among the best and the most memorable Claiming Crowns ever.”

The 2023 program will feature eight Claiming Crown races for horses 3 years old and up, with two of those restricted to fillies and mares. Headlining the card is the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at 1 1/8 miles for horses that have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less in 2022–23. Three other races—all on turf—will offer a $150,000 purse and have a $25,000 claiming requirement. Those races are the Emerald at 1 1/16 miles; its filly and mare counterpart, the Tiara; and the Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial at 5 ½ furlongs.

The other Claiming Crown races are the $100,000 Rapid Transit ($16,000 claiming requirement) at 6 furlongs; $100,000 Glass Slipper ($12,500 claiming requirement) at 1 mile for fillies and mares; $75,000 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial ($8,000 claiming requirement) at 1 1/16 miles; and $75,000 Ready’s Rocket Express ($8,000 claiming requirement) at 6 furlongs.

The deadline to make horses eligible for the Claiming Crown is November 18, with entries to be taken November 25. Eligibility request forms, along with race conditions, are available on claimingcrown.com.