Santa Anita's 'Ship & Stay' Program Providing Benefits
Description:
With less than a month remaining in Santa Anita's current Winter/Spring Meet, the track's popular "Ship & Stay" program continues attract new horses to Southern California and to generate significant bonus money for participating owners and trainers.
Beginning Dec. 26 and going through Saturday, May 26, a total of 86 racing days have resulted in 126 "new" horses, which have generated $269,536 in bonus money for their connections.
"I've only had two horses that have been eligible for Ship & Stay, but I've made about $5,000, and that money goes directly to me," said trainer Brian Koriner, who has won with a pair of 3-year-old fillies, First Dudette and Ms Peintour--both of whom had been based in Florida. "This really gives the trainer added incentive to go out of state, buy horses and bring them here. It's not easy, but the way this program is structured, it makes it well-worth the effort."
Owned by Blinkers On Racing Stable, J. Lyons, C. Robin, J. VanDrie and L. Wagner, First Dudette won a $56,000 allowance race here on March 1 and picked up $33,600 in purse money. In her third Santa Anita start, she finished third in the $75,000 Angels Flight Stakes, earning $9,780 in purse money.
Ms Peintour, owned by Samantha Siegel's Jay Em Ess Stable, finished third in her second Santa Anita start, a $56,000 allowance and earned $6,720 in purse money. She then won a $56,000 allowance here on April 21, which provided $33,600 in purse money.
Funded solely by The Stronach Group (TSG), "Ship & Stay" provides on-going bonuses to individual owners and trainers who bring horses to Santa Anita from out of state. Bonuses, which will be paid through closing day, Sunday, June 24, are paid to those connections that originally bring these horses to California for their first three starts.
These bonuses, which pay 20 percent of a horse's first race winnings and 10 percent (or $1,000, whichever is greater) of second and third race monies, will be paid even if the horse is claimed.
"The Ship & Stay results continue to be very gratifying," said Santa Stakes Coordinator Chris Merz, who devised the program. "Along with the 10 percent purse increase that will take effect this coming Friday (June 1), our horsemen are going to have a lot of money to run at over the next month and we're certainly hopeful this will enable us to finish up strongly."
For additional "Ship & Stay" information, horsemen are encouraged to contact the Santa Anita Racing Office at (626) 574-RACE.