By Pat Hagan

The topic of betting on out of town shippers is pondered daily by those people betting on the races at Hollywood Park (whether on track, at a local simulcast facility, or in the comfort of their own homes).

More importantly, how do these efforts at other racetracks equate to races run by their competitors at Hollywood Park?

We all try to find ways to compare them.

Today, we are going to use Northern California races as the basis for our article.

Here are the non-maiden class levels for races in the 2 Northern California main tracks – Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields:

$3,200

$4,000 (open or non-winners of 2 or 3 lifetime)

$6,250 (open or non-winners of 2 or 3 lifetime)

$8,000

$10,000 (open or non-winners of 2 lifetime)

$12,500 (open or non-winners of 2 lifetime)

$16,000

$20,000

$25,000

$32,000

By comparison, here are the non-maiden class levels for races contested in the major Southern California circuit (Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Santa Anita)

$8,000

$10,000

$12,500

$16,000

$20,000

$25,000 (open or non-winners of 2 lifetime)

$32,000

$40,000

$50,000

$62,500

$80,000

$100,000

You’ll notice two big differences: First off, there are many more class levels in Northern California that contain non-winners of 2 or 3 lifetime conditioned races. Also, the lowest class level in Northern California is $3,200 – whereas the lowest level in Southern California is $8,000

Of the 3 major racetracks in Southern California, you will often find the most Northern California shippers compete at Hollywood Park.

The simple reason is that Hollywood Park isn’t considered a premier race track and their overall purse moneys for their races are generally lower than what’s offered at Del Mar and Santa Anita.

Therefore, the classier horses often sit out Hollywood Park and wait for the lucrative meets at the other 2 Southern California tracks.

Very rarely will you see a horse competing for $10,000 or less at Bay Meadows/Golden Gate Fields ship in and race on the major Southern California racing circuit.  Simply put, they are physically inferior to the lower level horses on the major Southern California circuit.

It has been a rule of thumb for many years here in Southern California that shippers from Golden Gate and Bay Meadows were instant throw-outs.

Our report, the DAILY SCHTW WEEKLY POLYTRACK REPORT, which is available for purchase on http://www.joetakach.com, contains some interesting statistics in relation to horses racing over the Cushion Surface at Hollywood Park that had made their last start at either Bay Meadows or Golden Gate Fields. Here’s what the report shows:

Bay Meadows Shippers: 12 wins from 68 starts (17.65% winning percentage)

Golden Gate Fields Shippers: 6 wins from 39 starts (15.38% winning percentage)

It’s the first year that any of the DAILY SCHTW staff can recall Northern California shippers winning at high a percentage as they are at the current Hollywood Park meet.

It will be interesting to see if the trend continues when the Southern California racing scene shifts to Del Mar next month.

If you still have the notion that Northern California shippers cannot win in Southern California, hopefully the statistics above will somewhat change your mindset.