Optional claiming races

The optional claimer is a hybrid: It's part allowance race, part claiming race.
Bottom line, it opens up more horses for the racing secretary to draw from.

The racing secretary controls the horse-racing product that you and I bet on at the racetrack. The inventory of horses he draws from is stabled at the racetrack or is located in nearby training centers. His goal is to write races with full fields of competitive horses that horseplayers want to bet a lot of money on. An optional claiming race is one more tool at his disposal.

Stakes and handicap races: The top of the pyramid

At the top of the horse pyramid are the best runners on the grounds - the stakes horses and handicap horses. These horses have gone up the ladder, breaking their maiden and winning through their allowance conditions, and now they're tackling the best horses at the racetrack. They also face invaders who ship in from other racetracks to try and steal a rich purse.

These are the kind of horses and races you see at the racetrack or OTB and on television in the feature races on weekends and holidays. The racing secretary cards overnight stakes, restricted stakes, non-graded stakes, and stakes graded 3,2, and 1. These stakes horses are the creme de la creme, the kind you're willing to spend good money to see run.

Here are explanations and examples of each category of stakes race:

Grade 1 stakes: These stakes exemplify the very best races in the country.
For example, the Triple Crown races - the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes - are grade 1 stakes. In races of this caliber, you expect to see champion racehorses competing against the very best in their respective divisions. The richest purses tend to be grade 1 stakes, because the best horses follow the money.

Grade 2 stakes: These stakes are considered a cut below grade I, but they attract a very talented group of horses. A stakes race can move up or down in grade depending on the caliber of horse that runs in it. For example, if a grade 2 stakes has horses in it that normally run in a grade 1 stakes, the race may be upgraded the following year to grade 1 status.

Grade 3 stakes: Another level down from grade 1 and grade 2 stakes, these stakes have a noticeably smaller purse because they attract a lesser caliber of stakes horse. Still, the competition is keen, and the field sizes can be large because the race draws starters from a bigger pool of horses.
There are more grade 3 caliber stakes horses than grade 1 caliber horses.

Non-graded stakes: The vast majority of stakes races don't have grades 1,2, or 3. However, that doesn't mean the horses aren't any good. Quite the contrary. At a major racetrack, a non-graded stakes may be a stepping stone race to a graded stakes. At a smaller racetrack, a non-graded stakes can attract the best horses on the grounds. Any stakes race at any track attracts a very good caliber of racehorse.

Restricted stakes: These stakes are written for horses born in a specific state. For example, there are programs for horses born specifically in California, Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, to name a few. So, for example, in a California-bred stakes race, only horses born in California can compete.