Invaluable Earns Claiming Crown Horse of the Year

The mare Invaluable has been selected as the 2022 Claiming Crown Horse of the Year, her name neatly summing up the hardknocking warhorses that populate America’s racing cards largely out of the limelight.

Trainer Mike Maker and owner Peter Proscia’s Paradise Farms Corp. claimed Invaluable, then 5, in the final days of the 2022 Saratoga Race Course meeting with the intention of running in the Claiming Crown last November at Churchill Downs. Mission accomplished. After finishing third in a $10,000 starterallowance at Keeneland Race Course, Invaluable splashed to a 1 1/2-length victory under Luis Saez in the slop over Maoilin in the $109,850 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper at a mile for fillies and mares who had run for a claiming price of $12,500 or less in 2021–22.

The Claiming Crown Horse of the Year is voted on by the National HBPA’s Industry Awards Committee, chaired by Todd Mostoller from the Pennsylvania HBPA. Invaluable will be recognized at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) annual awards dinner September 9 in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Claiming Crown—designed to give the blue-collar workhorses their own championship day on the lines of the Breeders’ Cup—is sponsored by the National HBPA, TOBA and the host track with an assist from the HBPA’s state affiliate, in this case the Kentucky HBPA in 2022.

“Invaluable is a shining example of the importance and spirit of the claiming horse,” said National HBPA President Dr. Doug Daniels. “She might not be the fastest horse or the most accomplished horse, but she shows up for work every day and does her best for whatever barn she’s in. Invaluable illustrates what it means to be a claiming horse that thrives in nurturing environments and progresses up the claiming ranks. She is exactly the type of horse the Claiming Crown was designed to honor.”

Invaluable was claimed three times last year and six times overall, including for $50,000 out of her first start in a maiden-claiming race at Gulfstream Park. She has pretty much made money for all her various owners. In an era when many horses only run a handful of times, Invaluable raced 11 times in 2022 between January 23 and December 8 at five tracks, accruing $156,699 with a 3-3-2 record.

The Kentucky-bred daughter of Include became eligible for the Glass Slipper by running in—and winning—an $8,000 conditioned claiming race last April at Oaklawn Park. Maker claimed her on behalf of Proscia for $32,000 five races later at Saratoga.

“We’re very fortunate to have that horse, and I’m grateful to Mike and his team with how well we did with her,” Proscia said. “When we got her, we weren’t quite sure what we had. But she’s developed, and we have a nice horse.”

For her career, Invaluable has earned $370,932 while going 8-6-7 in 29 starts through June 12. She has never competed in a stakes race, with the Claiming Crown run under starter-allowance conditions, albeit with big purses.

“The Claiming Crown is one of our top priorities every year,” said Maker, who also won last year’s $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel with Keystone Field. “We thought Invaluable was a nice, sound horse that we could point for the Claiming Crown and also the various starter races around Kentucky. One of the great things about her is that she remains eligible to run back in the Glass Slipper this year.”

The 2023 Claiming Crown will be staged December 2 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The deadline to make horses eligible for the Claiming Crown is November 18, with entries to be taken November 25. More information is available at claimingcrown.com. HJ