A claiming horse race

We watched the movie "Dreamer."  In the movie they race the horse in a claiming race and it gets claimed, which means they are forced to sell the horse.  I looked it up online what a claiming horse race is.  Basically all the horses entered in the race are for sale for about the same "claiming price."  The point is to keep the horses in the race equal.   If your horse is worth much more than the claiming price you wouldn't enter it in the race, so the quality of the horses are kept equal, which I guess makes for a more exciting race.   The movie talked about the claim race as a cheep race, perhaps the entry fee is cheaper in that kind of race.


From this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughbred_horse_race

A claiming race is one in which the horses are all for sale for more or less the same price (the "claiming price") up until shortly before the race. The intent of this is to even the race; if a better-than-class horse is entered (with the expectation of an easy purse win), it might be lost for the claiming price, which is likely less than the horse is worth. Someone may wish to claim a horse if they think the horse has not been trained to its fullest potential under another trainer. If a horse is purchased, a track official tags it after the race, and it goes to its new owner.

image from: http://www.celebritywonder.com/wp/Dakota_Fanning_in_Dreamer_Wallpaper_1_800.jpg