OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Twisted Tom was a multiple stakes winner at age 3 and even competed in the 2017 Belmont Stakes. Over the years, however, his form tailed off and, via the claim box, he switched barns frequently, ultimately plummeting to the bottom-level claiming ranks. On Saturday, trainer Richard Schosberg claimed Twisted Tom for $10,000. The 8-year-old gelding was immediately retired. By Sunday morning he was on a van to East Greenbush, N.Y., and Re-Run, a facility that retrains Thoroughbreds for a second career. Schosberg, a veteran trainer on this circuit, is the president of Take The Lead, a retirement program for horses stabled on the New York Racing Association circuit. Schosberg said he was contacted by William Wilmot and Joan Taylor, the breeder of Twisted Tom, who saw the horse in for $10,000 claiming on Saturday. “They obviously were concerned about him. I said, ‘Let’s do it right here,’ " said Schosberg, referring to claiming him. “We have a place for him up at Re-Run. I’ll go ahead and claim him and we’ll put him right into the program. It came together quickly.” Twisted Tom finished a rallying second in Saturday’s 5th race. Thus, he ended his career with a record of 9-7-5 from 42 starts. He earned $939,135. Schosberg said the horse seemed fine physically Sunday morning, but had accomplished enough as a racehorse. “We want to make sure these horses retire before they have any major issues,” Schosberg said. “For a horse that is that established, he’s running at the bottom, he’s 8 years old, he’s got 12 years ahead of him, he’s still got two thirds of his life ahead of him. Why not make it a purposeful second career? He’s a big, tall, strong athletic horse. He would be a heck of a jumper. He’s got the speed and endurance to do that.” At age 3, when in the barn of Chad Brown, Twisted Tom won the Private Terms and Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park. In a Belmont Stakes that didn’t include either the Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming or the Preakness winner Cloud Computing, Twisted Tom was sent off as a 9-1 sixth choice in the 11-horse Belmont. He finished sixth, beaten 27 3/4 lengths. He came back to win three consecutive New York-bred stakes, ending his 3-year-old season with an overall record of 7 wins from 10 starts. He would win only twice more from his next 32 starts. He was claimed seven times for a total of $262,500. Mertkan Kantarmaci had him twice and ran him for $10,000 last Nov. 21, a race from which he was claimed - but the claim was voided. While Schosberg put up his own money to claim Twisted Tom Saturday, he said anyone interested in contributing to the horse’s aftercare could send donations straight to Re-Run and president Lisa Molloy.