[jmharvey]

There's a similar mechanism for most horse races in the US, though instead of it being just the winner's entry, all of the horses in the race are offered for sale at a certain "claiming" price just before the race starts.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claiming_race

[ewgoforth]

In the USA they have had similar rules for some motorcycle racing classes to make them more even. Sometimes a super trick bike with lots of trick factory parts gets bought for pennies on the dollar.