Chicago’s Gray a steal of a deal from Oaklawn Park

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This article was published 29/06/2023 (1192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was $150,000 up for grabs in three stakes races at Assiniboia Downs this week, with about $90,000 available to the winners. 82-year-old trainer Murray Duncan and his owners came within a foot of running away with all of it.

Duncan saddled 3-year-old gelding Chicago’s Gray to win the Golden Boy Stakes on Monday, 4-year-old filly Burrow Down to win the La Verendrye Stakes on Tuesday, and 5-year-old gelding Big Nick to finish second beaten a head in the Free Press Stakes on Wednesday.

Chicago’s Gray and Burrow Down each won $30,600. Big Nick won $10,200. That’s $71,400 in purses in three days. What did they have in common besides their trainer? They all came from Oaklawn Park.

Chicago’s Gray was claimed by Dave’s Quick Print co-owner Randy Premachuk at Oaklawn Park for US $12,500 on May 6. Premachuk then partnered with retired professor Steve Holborn, top Royal LePage real estate agent Royce Finley, and Arnason Construction owner Barry Arnason, brought the horse to Assiniboia Downs, and won three races in a row and $57,000.

Premachuk claimed Big Nick at Oaklawn Park for US $16,000 on February 24 and partnered with Colburn and Finley again. Big Nick won his first two starts at Assiniboia Downs and finished second beaten a head in his third start in the Free Press Stakes on Wednesday. He’s earned over $30,000 since arriving here.

Duncan claimed Burrow Down for US $30,000 on May 8, 2022, and she’s now undefeated in four starts at Assiniboia Downs, all stakes, for owner Gerald Babchishin. Burrow Down has earned over $90,000 here.

It’s almost like buying a live, fire-breathing lottery ticket, but with better odds, right? But it’s not all fun and games and free money. You actually have to work for it, and like everything else in life, those who do their homework and go the extra mile, are the ones who get the money. Duncan’s been doing it for years, and Premachuk took note.

“We started claiming horses about 10 years ago,” said Premachuk, but we didn’t really start looking seriously at Oaklawn Park again until about four years ago. We’ve been looking and trying really hard to get horses and we’ve put in a lot of time and effort. We put in over 20 claims last year and probably about 15 this this year.”

Racehorses are in high demand everywhere, and it’s very tough to buy one via the claiming ranks. An obviously good horse dropping in class might have as many as 30 claims in for it, and you have to be lucky in the draw to get the horse.

Claiming rules are slightly different everywhere, but at Oaklawn, if you put your horse in a claiming race and someone claims it, you get a preferred claiming slip, which means when you try to claim another horse, you get preference in the draw.

That’s exactly how Premachuk got Chicago’s Gray. He had partnered with Barry Arnason and claimed a horse earlier for $20,000. Trainer Nevada Litfin ran the horse back for $30,000 two weeks later and someone claimed it. They made a quick $10,000 and got a preferred claiming slip, which would later be used to win the claiming lottery for Chicago’s Gray.

So that helped, but both Premachuk and Holborn are excellent handicappers who have won the Player’s Choice Handicapping Tournament here. They know how to read the Daily Racing Form, and if you can read between the lines, you can find a good horse that doesn’t attract as many claims.

Premachuk was persuaded by Holborn to take a closer look at Chicago’s Gray, and he dug up some gold nuggets. Here’s what he discovered.

Chicago’s Gray was a $77,000 2-year-old in training purchase. He made his first lifetime start in a $120,000 Maiden Special Weight race at Churchill Downs and dumped the rider at the break. He then ran in a $90,000 Maiden Special Weight race in the slop at Oaklawn Park and finished tenth beaten 27 lengths after dueling early. He followed that up with another heavy-duty speed duel while stretching out to a distance in a Maiden Claiming $50,000 race and was beaten a whopping 54 lengths, finishing eleventh.

Premachuk liked the fact that Chicago’s Gray had speed, and Holborn thought he had the pedigree to go a distance. The horse dropped in class again to $20,000 and dueled outside through sizzling fractions before finishing fourth beaten eight lengths. Premachuk thought it was a strong race, and when Chicago’s Gray dropped in class to $12,500 in his next start, he pounced.

Thanks to the preferred claim slip he got with Arnason on the earlier horse, Premachuk was able to win the claiming lottery for Chicago’s Gray, but then he couldn’t get a carrier to bring the horse to Assiniboia Downs.

“I tried numerous people with lots of contacts, but nobody could bring the horses,” said Premachuk, who wanted the horse to run in the opening week of the season here. “So, I said, okay, I have to go myself. Barry (Arnason) was kind enough to let me borrow his truck. I borrowed the trailer from April at Final Furlong, and Steve and I went to Canterbury to get the two horses.”

Then the horses got here, and trainer Murray Duncan was still in the process of renewing his license when it came time to enter the horses. No problem, one of Arnason’s other trainers, Lise Pruitt, agreed to saddle the horses for their first starts, and Duncan would get the horses afterwards, as promised.

Chicago’s Gray won by eight lengths. Big Nick won by more than five. Eighty-seven thousand dollars later…

It’s an easy game.