Ship & Win Program Expands

The “Ship & Win” program introduced at Del Mar four years ago and designed to attract out-of-state horses to race in California has been expanded to include the entire Southern California racing circuit beginning Apr. 2. The program, which will apply to horses racing at Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and Del Mar, will guarantee a $1,000 appearance fee and a 30% enhancement to all purse money earned in the initial start of horses who have not raced in California in the past 12 months. Funding for the program will come from the three Southern California racetracks, the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Marketing Committee. 

“Horse recruitment and increasing field size are top priorities for TOC,” said Joe Morris, the ownership group's president said in a joint statement from the three Thoroughbred tracks. “We supported the 'Ship and Win' program at Del Mar for the last four years and believe it will be equally successful as a year-round program for Southern California.” 

Trainer Mark Casse, who had a string at Del Mar for the first time last summer, is a proponent of the program. 
“It's been a very good program for my owners and my horses,” said Casse. “It's a major expense to ship out there, so the bonus monies certainly helped. And now that we've seen that we can come and compete well, we'll be bringing out more horses this year, including some of our better 2-year-olds. Several of my owners have never raced in the west with the exception of the Breeders' Cup, so this has opened a door for them to try California.” 

Local stalwart Bob Hess, Jr. had 16 qualified Ship & Win horses start at Del Mar last summer. 

“I'm a big fan of Ship and Win,” said Hess. “We have the best stage in the country for presenting horse racing, but we need to get people aware and involved in being part of it. A program like this one is a part of the puzzle, part of how we actually get people to realize how good it is to race in California.”