Monmouth handicapping notes

In handicapping the opening day card of Monmouth Park, several handicapping topics leaped out to me that I think will make this meet an interesting study:

1. Claiming levels
• Let's take the sixth race, a $12k-$15k claiming race with a purse of $38,000 as a for instance.
• First place is worth $20,900, so winning a race like this has more value than the horse itself. Even second place, at $7,600, is a nice payday relative to the value of the asset. 
• Because of this, many of the horses in this particular race aren't actually $12,000 or $15,000 claimers. Their horses worth risking at that price for a shot at a $20,900 payday.
• My top pick in the race, #6 Three in the Bag, has done very well at the $16,000 level in New York, which I normally would hold in higher esteem than this level in New Jersey, but I'm more comforted by the good performances in open $25,000 claimers in New York and conditioned $40,000 claimers in Delaware.
• Races such as this, where all the horses are coming from different tracks and class levels are why my spreadsheet should help handicap this meet. Hopefully it will identify trends not only in how each race is run but also in how horses prepared for the meet.
2. Layoffs
• Speaking of how horses prepared for the meet, there is definitely a variety of training tactics at work on the opening day card. Some horses are NJ types who haven't run since Meadowlands, others have run at Gulfstream, still others are shipping from NYRA.
• From a layoff (or lack thereof) standpoint, there seems to be three typical approaches in the PPs on Saturday: No race since fall 2009, one recent race following a layoff from fall '09, and in training all year.
• In handicapping the card, I seemed to have favor the middle scenario: trainers who gave their horse a "tightener" somewhere else before running for the big bucks at Monmouth.
3. Jockeys
• The Monmouth jockey colony hasn't been this loaded for as long as I've been following racing. It'll be interesting to see which trainers are clicking with which jockeys.
4. Storylines
• Take a look at #4 Arhat in the ninth race. He's an eight-year-old Elnadim gelding co-bred in Kentucky by his owner Laura Buenaventura. It looks as if co-breeder Michael D'Angelo trainer the horse for a race last year as well and now he's back with Joe Zoppi, who won a race with him at Tampa last year.
• Arhat began his career as a seven-year-old, which isn't even allowed in some states, and by the looks of things was likely with his breeder that whole time. I'm definitely going to be calling up Laura on Monday in the hopes of getting the story there.
• I realize stories like Arhat's happen every day at tracks all over the country, but the great thing about what Monmouth did this year is it's getting people to pay more attention.

I hope it lasts.