THE victory of Innamorare at Leopardstown last Saturday served to highlight the merits of claimers in Ireland.

She was claimed for €17,000 after finishing second at Gowran Park in September and she has won just over €35,000 for her new connections in her subsequent outings.

For every Innamorare there are many other claims that don’t work out at all as well, but the point is that there is an appetite out there for claimers. Indeed one run at Laytown last month saw no fewer than 21 claims lodged for the winner, Cyrus Dallin.

In order for there to be a lively and viable claiming scene in Ireland there needs to be a steady stream of such races and the authorities were spot on with their programming for the last four weeks of the winter season at Dundalk where there will be a claimer run every Friday evening during March 2019.

THREE CLAIMERS

It is a pity that only three claimers will be run at Dundalk from the start of the winter season on November 7 through to Christmas but the scheduling in the new year is much better and it is this sort of structure that will substantially enhance the Irish claiming scene in Ireland.

A regular and steady flow of such races with a level of claiming activity to match would actually add something to the fabric of Irish racing and hopefully these races can become a more regular fixture than they have previously been.