Expect the Best 3-1 program favorite in $200,000 Jewel
BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Ten Florida-breds have entered seven of the nine Claiming Crown races scheduled for Saturday at Churchill Downs including Expect the Best, the 3-1 morning line favorite in the $200,000 Jewel.
Saturday’s $1.2 million Claiming Crown will be staged for the 28th time, with Churchill Downs the host track for the fourth time in five years. The Jewel has a field of nine 3-year-olds and older which have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less in 2025-26 set to go a mile-and-a-sixteenth.
The Claiming Crown is staged annually by the National Horsemen’s Benevolence & Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in conjunction with the host track and its HBPA affiliate, in this case the Kentucky HBPA. With purses ranging from $100,000 to $200,000, the 12-race Claiming Crown card will be America’s dominant racing program Saturday, with no graded stakes in the United States that day. The only purse larger than the $200,000 Jewel is Churchill Downs’ $300,000 Dream Supreme, positioned as race 3, with the Claiming Crown running as races four through 12. First post for the card is 1 p.m. EST.
For Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA, Claiming Crown Day brings everyone in racing together.
“We look at these horses as mature, older horses and understand that they are the true backbone of the racing industry,” Hamelback said. “But you also see the people who care for these horses, love these horses — the owners, trainers, grooms. The emotion that they show on that day, win or lose, is really difficult to describe. This day is a galvanizing day for the industry, because it really highlights what’s good in the industry.”
New this year is the Retired Racehorse Project as a Claiming Crown sponsor. Through the Lexington-based non-profit’s Claiming Crown Pledge, owners, trainers and jockeys are encouraged to donate any specified percent or amount of Claiming Crown purse earnings. The RRP facilitates placement of former Thoroughbred racehorses in second careers by increasing demand for them in equestrian sports and serving the farms, trainers and organizations that transition them.
“This is what it’s about. This is about the passion for the race, passion for the horse and understanding that this is not the end of their career. We’re building pathways for second careers here at the Claiming Crown. We want our horses to go on and perform as older athletes in different areas. So, for me, it’s really become a special event that I believe helps bring the industry back to the point of being with the horse, the passion for the horse, love of the sport and appreciation of the industry.”
Ron Moquett trains Expect the Best, a 4-year-old gelded son of Ocala Stud’s perennial leading Florida sire Khozan who races for William S. Sparks, Chris Monroe, Trey Patterson, Ty Patterson and K. Johnston Racing.
Expect the Best was claimed by his current connections for $30,000 out of a victory in his last start of 2025 and has been exceptional since. He has finished in the top three in all eight starts this year with three wins, four seconds and a third while banking $196,040.
In his first race from the Moquett barn, Expect the Best won a $50,000 starter allowance going a mile at Oaklawn Park on January 3 then two starts later took a $40,000 starter allowance there at a mile-and-a-sixteenth. He enters off a nearly two-length score going a mile-and-a-sixteenth against first condition allowance horses at Horseshoe Indianapolis on October 1.
He career ledger is nearly as consistent with five wins, four seconds and three thirds in 15 races with revenues of $269,664. He is out of the Constitution mare Gulf Coast Gal and was bred in Florida by Trevor James of Miramar.
Expect the Best is a two-time graduate of Ocala Breeders’ Sales company having last sold for $32,000 to Soldi Stables out of Lisa McGreevy’s Abbie Road Farm consignment at the 2023 October Yearling Sale. Abbie Road Farm also consigned Expect the Best at that year’s OBS Winter Mixed Sale where Amalio Ruiz-Lozano took him for $21,000.
Moquett will give the leg up on Expect the Best to Rafael Bejarano and they have drawn the inside post one.
The second choice in the program at 7-2 is Indy Charges On, a winner of a $20,000 starter allowance over a sloppy mile-and-a-sixteenth at Keeneland on October 11.
Indy Charges On was claimed by trainer Lacy Gaudet and owner Thiele Thoroughbreds for $55,000 in May at Laurel Park. The new connection gave the 4-year-old gelding a break until August 22 when he came back to finish third in a $62,500 overnight handicap going seven furlongs at Colonial Downs on August 22.
By Take Charge Indy out of the Shackleford mare Lady Shackleford, Indy Charges On is another reliable runner with a career record of six wins, seven seconds and two thirds in 17 races, earning $218,231.
Jose Ortiz will ride Indy Charges on from post seven.
Rounding the field for the Jewel are Margie’s Fun Son with Luis Saez named to ride, Tyler Gaffalione has the call on Papa Yo, Urban Planner will have apprentice Yomar Ortiz Jr. in the saddle, Carolo Rapido teams with jockey Cristian Torres, Francisco Arrieta will guide Groveland, Junior Alvarado takes the reins on Break Out and Jaime Torres has the riding assignment on Freedom Principle.
Other Florida-breds running in Claiming Crown races are Dontbesoogrouchy in the $100,000 Ready’s Rocket, Notable Exchange has entered the $150,000 Tiara, Little Martha will go in the $100,000 Glass Slipper, Blast Radius and Rock N Roll Bolt are set for the $100,000 Kent Sterling Memorial Iron Horse, Warda and Awesome Pic are entered in the $100,000 Empress and Outlaw Country and Biz Biz Buzz (AE) are programed for the $150,000 Tom Metzen Memorial Canterbury.
— portions of the article were taken directly from a Claiming Crown press release
