Ship and Win

Del Mar concluded its 85th summer racing season Sunday as the seaside track once again recorded strong field sizes and average daily handle as well as the highest daily purses in the state of California. Del Mar averaged 8.6 starters per race and $831,000 per day in total purse distribution. Total wagering for the meet was $502,985,000, a slight decrease from last summer after Del Mar implemented new restrictions on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) players in 2024. Average daily handle was $16,225,000. Track officials indicated that the handle figures were in...

Santa Anita will once again implement the "Ship and Win" program for the 2024 Autumn Meet, which kicks off Friday, Sept. 27. The incentive program is designed to attract horses from outside California. Horses from out of state who made only one start at the Del Mar Summer Meet will remain eligible for Santa Anita's Ship and Win purse bonus provided they did not make an additional start elsewhere. Eligible horses will receive $4,000 guaranteed for their first start at Santa Anita, as well additional bonus money in excess of...

Del Mar marked eight weeks of increased field sizes and high-quality racing that ended Sunday. "Overall, just a tremendous summer of quality racing," Racing Secretary David Jerkens says. "Especially Pacific Classic Day. You look back and see how strong of a card that was. I think some of the winners and horses that ran well on that card have bright futures for the Breeders' Cup." The talk around the racing industry is the field sizes again this year at Del Mar. "It was a robust number that I think any...

Del Mar will once again offer a bonus package for maidens competing at the highest levels on dirt throughout its upcoming 84th summer season, the track said in a release on Wednesday. The move adds 25% in purse earnings to runners who fit the simple specifications of the program, is available to all dirt competitors in maiden allowance races, all California-bred maiden allowance races or any maiden-claiming race at the $62,500 level or above. The maiden must come from the barn of a trainer who has no more than 60...

Del Mar will offer its richest "Ship and Win" bonus when the program, designed to encourage out-of-state horses to compete in California, returns for its 12th year at the oceanside oval's summer meeting. This year's program offers a $5,000 starter bonus and a 50% purse supplement for any dirt runner. Turf horses earn a $4,000 starter fee and a 40% purse bonus. The purse bonuses extend to additional starts at the summer meet and are designed to increase all purses won by first through fifth finishers. Further, should a 'S...

California's Del Mar Thoroughbred Club is set to deliver purses above $25 million for its 31-day summer meet, with the daily average purse payout of more than $800,000 the highest in the history of California racing. Overnight purses and the value of 21 of the seaside oval's stakes will be raised by a blended rate of 15%. Among the most prominent races to see increases are the GI Bing Crosby S. and the GI Clement L. Hirsch S., both of which will climb from $300,000 to $400,000. Gross purses for...

Santa Anita will continue the "Ship & Win" program this fall at the Autumn Meet, which opens Friday, Oct. 1. The program began this past May at the Arcadia track, is currently a part of Del Mar's summer meet, and will continue through the fall. "Ship & Win" provides a $3,000 bonus and a 35% increase in purse earnings for any horse that has not run in California for one year. In addition, any new out-of-state horses coming to Santa Anita which meet requirements or which have made their first...

With purses to exceed $700,000 per day and "Ship and Win" incentives to double, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club is substantially increasing all overnight purses and offering record incentives for its upcoming Summer Meet, which opens Saturday, July 17, and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 6. Among the increases for overnights from last year, maiden special weight races will jump from $55,000 to $70,000, with a number of maiden claiming and open claiming purses also increasing. In addition, purse levels will be raised for several summer stakes races with the...

The highly successful "Ship and Win" program is back for its 10th season at Del Mar with its guaranteed bonus package and purse incentives to all horsemen who import out-of-state runners to race at the shore oval in 2020. The "Ship and Win" program, initially started in 2011, offers all qualifying runners an automatic "first start" check for $2,000, then further provides a 20% bonus payment on top of whatever purse monies (first through fifth) they earn in that start, excluding stakes races. Those 20% purse bonuses apply for all...