In this case, the horses may be eligible to be claimed or they may be allowance horses, competing under allowance conditions, and therefore are not eligible to be claimed. This type of race was created to combine two types of races and help the Racing Secretary have a fuller field of horses for this type of race. Starter Allowance Races . A horse entered in a starter allowance race cannot be claimed. The starter allowance generally brings together the best of the the claiming-level competitors.
Allowance races are exactly like their name implies.
As you can see, each level is more competitive. A horse that has never won two races might have a hard time winning a race against horses that have won three. A good handicapper will make note of these conditions. These races are exciting for the fan and industry alike as we all learn whether a horse is going to be good enough to continue on to the stakes level of racing. It depends on the trainer and owner, of course, but often a horse will be run through all of their conditions before they are ever entered in a stakes race.