California Tracks to Beef Up Ship and Win Program

The California Horse Racing Board heard testimony on Thursday about a $300,000 marketing budget shift that will expand a popular incentive program to lure out-of-state shippers to the state’s racetracks. 

Separately, the board discussed ways to limit or exclude “poorly performing horses” from the existing Thoroughbred population. 

Commissioners also examined, but deferred action on, several proposed medication changes and equine welfare initiatives, including a measure that would void the claim of any horse certified to have bled externally in a race. 
Del Mar Chief Marketing Officer Craig Dado, speaking on behalf of the California Marketing Committee, outlined CMC budget changes for 2015 that will enable Santa Anita Park to offer an extension of the “Ship and Win” bonus program that has been credited with increasing field sizes at Del Mar. 

Dado said the $1.7-million CMC budget, which is funded by a percentage of handle at state betting satellites, will be sharply redistributed in 2015 in an attempt to focus on bolstering the California racing product. 

In 2014, the amount budgeted for paying rebates to high-end bettors was $730,000. For 2015, Dado said the rebate line tiem will be slashed to $180,000, in part because CMC will now cap its portion of rebate payments to 1% monthly. Track operators, he said, have agreed to pick up the remainder of the rebate cost (typically 3%) at their own discretion to incentivize customers. 

The CMC “product development” line item will now rise from $735,000 to $1.35 million to fund Santa Anita’s inaugural Ship and Win program, which will start Apr. 2. 

Dado said the program will be “almost identical” to Del Mar’s, which offers $1,000 starter fees and 30% purse bonuses to qualified shippers. 

“This program has been a great success at Del Mar, and we feel it has been personally responsible for taking Del Mar’s field size over the past four years from 8.1 horses per race to our current level of 8.8,” Dado said “In addition, there’s what we call a ‘ripple effect.’” 

Dado explained that 187 qualifying Ship and Win horses at Del Mar made 297 starts during the meet. 

“But those same 187 horses, from the end of Del Mar to the end of the year, made an additional 290 starts in California,” Dado said. “Some in Southern California, some in Northern California, some at the fairs–but it did help racing year-round.” 

The money from the CMC will pay for roughly half the Ship and Win program, while the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the tracks will pay for the remainder, as has been done at Del Mar. 

While attracting fresh horses was the goal of the marketing initiative, weeding out the ones that might be unsafe, or at the very least, unappealing from a product standpoint, was a separate concern of CHRB commissioners. 

Although no vote was scheduled or called for, the commissioners asked CHRB stewards and equine medical director Rick Arthur to explain how on-track officials might improve procedures to cut down on the number of horses with abysmal past performances from appearing in the entries. 

The board called for a clarification of whose job it should be–either the racing secretaries’ or the stewards’–to flag problem horses. The consensus was that both parties need to work in conjunction, because in an era where there is a nationwide horse shortage, racing secretaries are under increased pressure to provide fuller fields. 

“Statistically, from the [Jockey Club’s] Equine Injury Database, horses that finish toward the back of the field and horses dropping in class have a great risk of having an injury,” said Arthur. “As are horses that have been on the vet’s list for any reason. There are horses that are marked by [CHRB] veterinarians for watching in all stages of the process. Even after the race, there will be some horses that get special scrutiny, and we actually go back from time to time several days after the race to see how they’ve come out.” 

Several items recommended by the CHRB’s Medication and Track Safety Committee were discussed but did not come up for a vote because they need to be placed on the February agenda before action can be taken: 1) Amending state rules on therapeutic medications ketoprofen and isoflupredone to bring them into line with national standards; 2) Making owners the absolute co-insurer responsible for violations when their horses transfer temporarily to a new trainer on a ship-in basis; 3) Voiding claims when horses bleed in a race. 

The CHRB unanimously approved the certification of one-mile Galway Downs in Temecula as a licensed state training center, pending final approval of paperwork. The certification opens up 400 new stalls to horsemen who will have to relocate with the impending closure of stables at the former Fairplex Park. 

The CHRB deferred action on amending CHRB Rule 1865, which deals with the scratching of improperly reported geldings.