The eighth edition of the fall meet at Del Mar begins on Wednesday, November 3rd. The meet is entitled the Bing Crosby Season as a salute to the track’s founder.
It will offer horsemen a solid 20% blended raise in purses compared to last year, as well as a continuation of the exceptionally popular Ship & Win program that has amplified field size and year-round horse population at the seaside track near San Diego.
The 15-day stand, which will run through Sunday, November 28th, includes the 38th running of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday, November 5th, and Saturday, November 6th.
The 20% across-the-board increase in fall purses means that Del Mar is presenting its autumn schedule under the same robust levels as its highly successful summer session that ended on Labor Day.
It also brings the reboot of its Ship & Win program – with a $3,000 guarantee for a first outing along with a 30% purse boost in all starts – builds on the program’s blockbuster summer numbers that were the best in its 11-year history.
The Ship & Win strategy at Del Mar saw 180 new horses make 272 starts during its 31-day summer meeting. That upped the totals since the plan’s start in 2011 to more than 1,600 runners appearing at Del Mar and making over 2,200 starts.
The simple rules for Ship and Win runners are as follows:
- Horses must have made their last start outside of California.
- Horses cannot have raced in California in the past 12 months.
- First-time starters are not eligible
- $3,000 starter fee for all eligible horses; 30% purse bonus for all starts at meet
- Stakes runners (including overnight stakes) are not eligible for 30% bonus.
Kudos to Del Mar and the other California tracks participating in this program, as they try to quell the recent Race Horse exodus from the state, due in large part to the not long past debacle at Santa Anita.
Carry on west coast horseplayers.
