what does it mean when you claim a horse
Claiming race The mechanics of claiming vary based on jurisdiction but in most cases almost anyone, or possibly anyone who is licensed to own racehorses, may claim. For example, the Illinois Racing Board stipulates that any horse may be claimed for its entered price by any licensed owner or agent or anyone who has filed an application and been granted a claiming license.[3] Title to the horse typically transfers just before the start of the race,[4] but the previous owner is entitled to the purse, if any, that results from the horse's performance in the race.[3] Usually related parties such as the trainer or employees, or relatives, are prohibited from claiming, as are reciprocal agreements between owners to "protect" each other's horses.[4] If a horse is purchased, a track official tags it (often with a red tag[1]) after the race, and it goes to its new owner, assuming the new owner had sufficient funds on deposit.[3][4]
Horses in the United States Fossils of the earliest direct ancestor to the modern horse, Eohippus have been found in the Eocene layers of North American strata, mainly in the Wind River basin in Wyoming.[4] Fossils found at the Hagerman Fossil Beds in Idaho, called the Hagerman horse or Equus simplicidens are from the Pliocene, dating to about 3.5 million years ago (mya). Paleontologists determined the fossils represented the oldest remains of the genus Equus.[5] The genus Equus, which includes all extant equines, was plentiful in North America and spread into the Old World by about 2.5 mya.[6]