Pull the plug on the Claiming Crown

The idea of bringing together a bunch of claiming horses and having them meet on the same card always had obvious shortcomings. Claimers may be the so-called backbone of the business, but they don't generate anything in the way of interest from fans or bettors. Claimers are claimers because they simply aren't very good horses and that's why the Claiming Crown was never anything more than a celebration of mediocrity.

Proponents of the Claiming Crown argued that it was a way to reward these blue-collar horses and their trainers and owners by allowing them to have at least one day when they could compete for decent purses. But now even that argument has become a specious one. With claimers routinely running for inflated purses at slots tracks, the pots offered in the Claiming Crown no longer seem like that big of a deal.

That's why Rapid Redux, the most famous claimer of the last 50 years and a winner of 20 straight races, won't be competing in the Claiming Crown Saturday at the Fair Grounds. He was eligible to run in the $50,000 Iron Horse, but to do so he had to get from his base in Pennsylvania to New Orleans and that was going to cost owner Robert Cole $13,000. Once there, he would have had to run against far better horses than he usually faces.

It wasn't worth it, not when Rapid Redux can get on a van and ship to a half dozen racetracks and race against inferior horses for good money. When you can be 1-10 in a $20,000 race close to home it makes no sense to venture so far outside your comfort zone.

Rapid Redux will stay home Saturday, as will dozens of other horses who are eligible for Claiming Crown races. Only 39 horses have been entered for this year's Claiming Crown events. There will be just five Claiming Crown races because a sixth, the $75,000 Rapid Transit, had to be cancelled when it did not get enough entries. Not surprisingly, Louisiana-based horses dominate the Claiming Crown entries.

The five Claiming Crown races are among the worst betting races on the Fair Grounds card, they will come and go without anyone paying much attention to them and they won't do anything to generate handle.

Fans and horseplayers rejected the Claiming Crown a long time ago. Now, it appears that owners and trainers have, too. Never a great idea to begin with, the Claiming Crown has lost any and all appeal, and it's time for it to go.

Worst horse of 2011

A terrific race is brewing between two Mid-Atlantic based horses for the unofficial title of Worst Horse of the Year. No horse has started more times this year without a win than Tactical Sting. He is 0 for 25. The best he has done all year is one third-place finish. There are three horses breathing down his neck at 0 for 24, among them Mala Mala Cat.

What makes the Mala Mala Cat-Tactical Sting battle so intriguing is that the two have met twice this year with a split record. On July 19 at Delaware, Mala Mala Cat beat one horse, Tactical Sting. But back in March at Penn National, Tactical Sting dusted Mala Mat Cat running the race of his life to finish third. Mala Mala Cat was ninth that night. He has not finished in the money all year.

Better yet, the two are stablemates, both owned by Juan Sepulveda and trained by Eduardo Gomez. They are the Riva Ridge and Secretariat of bad.

Tactical Sting also sports what is likely the longest losing streak in racing with 54 straight losses.

Hopefully, the two rivals can meet at least one more time this year so that the sport will finally have an answer to the question -- who is the worst horse of 2011?

Turfway to cut Pick 4 takeout

Turfway Park is looking to cut its takeout on the Pick 4 wager from 22 percent to 14 percent, starting Jan. 1. More and more tracks are looking to induce bettors with lower takeouts, particularly in bets like the Pick 4 and Pick 5, which is welcome news for the horseplayer.

Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Contact him at wnfinley@aol.com.