HOT SPRINGS — It was another claim to fame.
When Kate’s Main Man won the Essex Handicap on Feb. 13 at Oaklawn Park, it reinforced the magical claiming touch trainer Randy Morse possesses.
After claiming Kate’s Main Man for $35,000 last February at Oaklawn, Morse has watched the consistent son of Bernstein earn $200,000.
Kate’s Main Man bankrolled $60,000 for winning the Essex, the gelding’s third, and most important, stakes victory since being claimed.
“A lot of it [claiming success] is having people behind you that let you do what you want to do,” Morse said. “Some owners want to pick them out themselves and have you lookat them.”
Kate’s Main Man is the latest in a series of shrewd claims for Morse, 48, Oaklawn’s second-leading trainer this year with 10 victories from just 32 starts.
Morse’s most notable claim to date, Morluc, developed into a multiple stakes winner of more than $1 million.
On behalf of Michael Cloonan, Morse claimed Morluc for $50,000 in January 1999 at Gulfstream Park in suburban Miami.
Morse said he was wowed by the horse’s looks and his ability to make strong middle moves during races.
“He would run by the horses like they were tied up,” Morse said.
Morluc’s career flourished when Morse put the horse on turf.
Morluc won five stakes races and became a world traveler, competing in Dubai and Hong Kong, where he was narrowly beaten in the graded Hong Kong Sprint in 2000 and 2001.
Morse developed Shaacopate, a $7,500 claim, into a multiple stakes winner in the early 1990s.
Prospector’s Song was claimed for $50,000 out of her June 1997 career debut at Churchill Downs and retireda multiple stakes winner of $264,256.
Owned by the late Robert Mitchell, Prospector’s Song set stakes records in Oaklawn’s Carousel and Spring Fever.
On behalf of Mitchell, Morse claimed My Son Bill for $40,000 out of his second career start in September 1994 at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago.
My Son Bill went on to win three stakes races for his new connections, including the $75,000 Bachelor in 1995 at Oaklawn.
There have been other success stories, too.
“Claiming is the only way I’ve been able to operate,” said Morse, who saddled his first winner in 1981. “I’ve never had anybody furnish me big-time yearlings to deal with. I like claiming, but I would love to have a bunch of young horses every year.”
Morse, who carries about 25 horses, is on pace to have his best Oaklawn meeting since 2005, when he won 14 of 67 starts.
Morse topped the standings for much of this meeting until a recent surge by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/27/2011