RISE IN CLASS

Fires when today's claiming price is more than 25% higher than the most recent past claiming price. A horse that has been winning or running well at a lower level does not automatically translate to being competitive at a substantially higher one. The quality gap in claiming races at different price levels is real and consistent. The larger the jump, the more this flag warrants caution, particularly when the horse's speed figures do not clearly exceed the figures of typical winners at the new level.