Claiming Crown: How Goats On a Tree was Named

Goats On a Tree, the namesake, at Churchill Downs. Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation

The background on Goats On a Tree is a wild story.

Not that it would be surprising if the 4-year-old filly wins Saturday’s $150,000 Claiming Crown Tiara at Churchill Downs. After all, she’ll be among the favorites in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares who have run for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2024-’25.

Trainer Mike Maker claimed Goats On a Tree for $80,000 and has run her only once, winning a $50,000 starter-allowance race at Aqueduct. So he does not know the source of the name. But Google does, and that’s what is wild. You gotta see it to believe it.

In Morocco, goats climb up the gnarly limbs of the argan trees to eat their fruit. (Argan trees, Google informs, are native to Morocco and parts of Algiers and can live up to 450 years, with their oil-rich seeds coveted for culinary and cosmetic purposes.) Further investigation showed that Goats On a Tree’s original owners included Al Gold, who is known for creative names for his horses, including the Grade 1-winning turf sprinter Howard Wolowitz (after a fictional character on the Big Bang Theory) and Cyberknife, the G1 Arkansas Derby and Haskell winner named for the CyberKnife® robotic technology that proved a game-changer with his prostate-cancer surgery and recovery.

“When I was in my 20s, I used to travel to Pennsylvania to the mountains,” Gold said, explaining the source of the name in a phone chat. “These goats would stay on the mountain, and I couldn’t believe how they balance themselves on these tiny hooves on the side of the mountain. It was incredible. Then I was looking through the internet one day, and I saw them on a tree. It could have been Ecuador. Could have been Morocco. They just go on the tree. And they had pictures of it. I said, ‘I’m going to name a horse Goats On a Tree.’ So I did.”

Al Gold’s inspiration for the name: Goats really are on trees in Morocco. Shutterstock image

Let the puns begin. Will Goat get her 11 rivals’ goat? Or will Goat be the goat? Whatever, she’s so far been perfect for Maker and new owners David Staudacher and Paradise Farms Corp, who claimed her for the $80,000 at Kentucky Downs.

Maker is the Claiming Crown’s all-time winningest trainer with 22. He has four entries in three races Saturday. He said they claimed Goats On a Tree with the Claiming Crown in mind. She was fifth that day, but earned $60,500 of her purchase price back by winning the starter race in New York. As a Kentucky-bred, Goats On a Tree will be running for the winner’s share (about $100,000) of $170,000, including $20,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

“We were fortunate enough to win that one, so we’re looking for a double,” Maker said. “When we claim, we kind of have an approach on how to get the investment back. With those two purses, that was it.”

He claimed Claiming Crown Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial contender Shape Note for $40,000 at Keeneland’s spring meet, lost him the next race at Churchill Downs for $32,000, then two races later claimed him again for Staudacher and Paradise Farms Corp. at Ellis Park for $25,000, also with the Claiming Crown in mind. Shape Note has two wins and a second in three races since being reunited with Maker. The Mendelssohn gelding is 6 for 11 for $181,402 this year for more than two-thirds of his lifetime earnings of $259,146. For his career, Shape Note is 3 for 6 on turf and 6 for 15 on dirt.

“He’s just a heart of gold,” Maker said. “We’ve had a lot of luck with him, and hopefully that continues.”

Case Chambers’ 7-year-old horse Risk Manager could be the favorite for the $175,000 Emerald at 1 1/16 miles on turf. His three victories in his last three starts include a Kentucky Downs second-level allowance and a starter $50,000 at Aqueduct. Maker also has Goes the Clown in the capacity field of 12, with three horses on the also-eligible list needing scratches to run.

“He’s on top of his game right now,” Maker said. “He ran a spectacular race in New York, and I expect another big performance from him.”

Chevan Maharaj’s Goes the Clown was sent to Maker from Florida-based trainer Fernando Abreu. Maker says to throw out the gelding’s 10th-place finish in a Keeneland allowance race at 1 1/2 miles. “We tried to stretch him out last time, didn’t work out,” Maker said. “ But he’s at a more suitable distance this time.”

Trainer Mike Tomlinson with Pinfire. Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation

Mike Tomlinson got lucky and Pinfire got good

Luck on the racetrack often comes in unexpected ways.

Trainer Mike Tomlinson had a lot of hope for Pinfire — his entrant in Saturday’s $150,000 Claiming Crown Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial — as a young horse. But chronic foot problems kept getting in the way. After taking six starts to win and then finishing up the track in a first-level allowance, Tomlinson thought it was time to put Pinfire in a claiming race, albeit a “non-winners of two” for $50,000. A non-threatening second necessitated another class drop, into a $20,000 claiming race. At that level, Pinfire proved popular, attracting nine claims.

But a post-race veterinarian scratch — after Pinafore’s front-running 2 3/4-lengths victory — voided the claim and proved a break for Tomlinson and owner Patricia’s Hope LLC. That race last Nov. 22 is the last time Pinfire has been in a claiming race, but his participation made him eligible for the Canterbury at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

“He’s always been a very talented horse,” Tomlinson said Tuesday at frigid Churchill Downs, a morning when training was canceled. “He’s had feet issues pretty much his whole career, part of the reason his development was slow. It goes to show you, in this game, sometimes you’re better off to be lucky than smart. We’d gotten to the point where we weren’t sure we were going to get him over the hump. So we put him in for a claiming price, and he was claimed. But then the claim was voided. Right after the voided claim — and a lot of it is thanks to Chris Broadus, my farrier – we finally got his feet lined out. He’s just been a racehorse ever since.”

Pinfire’s eight races since have been very good, with four wins, a second, a third and a competitive fourth and fifth (after stumbling at the start). While he’s only raced twice on turf, one was a second and the other a good effort, Tomlinson said. The Canterbury was the only realistic Claiming Crown option because he wasn’t eligible for the Rapid Transit or Ready’s Rocket Express on dirt.

Tomlinson was hoping to work Pinfire on the turf Sunday, but those were canceled.

“It’s been a couple of years since he was on the turf,” Tomlinson said. “The first time on turf, he ran second in a maiden special to one of Wesley Ward’s turf monsters, was actually closing on him and a little farther could have caught him. He’s very adaptable. He’s run on the poly, been on turf twice with two very good races. Even though we didn’t get to work him on the grass, I expect him to just step on the turf course and go on.

“Across the board there are some pretty good horses in there. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. He’s going to have to run his race to get there, for sure. The Claiming Crown has turned into a pretty big event. I know a lot of people are calling it the poor man’s Breeders’ Cup.”

He raised his hand while adding with a laugh, “That fits in my category.”

Trainer Jordan Blair, left, with Morning Miracle, exercise rider Joel Barrientos and groom Roy Rivera. Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation

Blair looking at first Claiming Crown horse in Morning Miracle

Jordan Blair is in line to have his first Claiming Crown starter in Conch Racing and Chris Johnson’s Morning Miracle, a 4-year-old filly in the $150,000 Tiara at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Blair has had Morning Miracle since he claimed her out of a $20,000 maiden-claiming race in May of 2024 at Churchill Downs. That race, in her third career start, made her eligible for the Tiara, which is for fillies and mares that have competed for $25,000 or less in 2024-2025. But Blair said he wasn’t thinking about the Claiming Crown until Morning Miracle was second on Nov. 6 in an open $32,000 claiming race at a mile on turf.

“We nominated her on a whim,” he said, referring to the Claiming Crown’s procedure of owners sending in a $250 administrative fee, “even though she’s been eligible for a long time. She didn’t have the best winter at Turfway, was really off form. She came back around over the summer at Colonial, which she did the same last year. She ran well over this turf course last fall. Ran well the other day. When these kinds of horses are doing good, you’ve got to put them in. So that’s what we did.

“… (Handicapping) numbers-wise, she looks OK. I don’t know what the morning line will be. I think she’ll be 10-1. She has really good early speed going long. It would be great if there was other speed and she could track. That would be an ideal scenario. Otherwise, she’ll set it up and either finish or not. That’s what happened in her last race. I think (Mike) Maker beat us with a 3-5 shot, and she ran huge. That was the deciding factor in putting her home.”

Blair previously thought he had a Claiming Crown horse in the barn.

“We had grand ideas with others that didn’t work out,” he said. “… I love the Claiming Crown. Claiming horses are my bread and butter; they put food on the table. Same for a lot of other guys. To have this kind of opportunity to run these horses for this kind of money, it’s fantastic. It’s great it’s in our backyard at Churchill Downs, makes things a lot easier. Like Morning Miracle. She will be running back in nine days, and she will have to train well over the next few days for us to decide to go. But it is a really good opportunity for owners and trainers alike.”