Eclipse Award: Trainers

The race for the Eclipse Award for trainers looks like a two-person duel – four-time winner Bob Baffert against Chad Brown, who has won it the past two years. It’s a lot closer than you think. Training a Triple Crown winner would seem like a slam dunk for an Eclipse Award, but in the modern era, since 1971 when the voting bodies joined forces, there have been a few that hit the back of the iron. In 1973, Secretariat became the first horse in 25 years to sweep the Triple Crown. His trainer, Lucien Laurin, won it in 1972 but the voters gave it to H. Allen Jerkens in 1973. In 1977, Seattle Slew not only swept the Triple Crown but did so while undefeated at that point. The voters gave it to Laz Barrera. In 1978, Laz Barrera’s Affirmed won the Triple Crown and he won the Eclipse Award as well. Finally, 37 years later, American Pharoah won the Triple Crown and Bob Baffert was named Eclipse Award-winning trainer after his own 16-year drought. This year, Baffert took it up a notch winning the Triple Crown with Justify, who had not started as a two-year-old and didn’t even begin his career until February. Six wins later, there he was, an undefeated Triple Crown winner who never tasted defeat since he was subsequently retired. Besides Justify, Baffert also trained multiple Grade 1 winners Game Winner, the probable Eclipse Award winner for juvenile male, and Abel Tasman, who could follow up her Eclipse Award from last year with another one this year, so his success spread far and wide. However, Brown had an incredible year and it’s worth exploring. Baffert only started 332 horses in 2018 compared to Brown’s 817, Todd Pletcher’s 926 and Steve Asmussen’s 1,838. So, Brown did not have the boutique barn that Baffert had but still started fewer horses than Pletcher. Baffert’s win percentage was a sensational 33% but Brown was not far behind at 27%. In the money earnings race, Brown’s horses earned more than $27 million, Asmussen’s horses earned over $25 million ($7 million came from Gun Runner’s win in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational [G1]), Pletcher’s racked up in excess of $17 million and Baffert was way behind with $16 million and change. In fact, Brown’s earnings in graded stakes races was over $17 million and would have been in third place if those were the only horses he started. With graded stakes wins, Brown had 46 while Baffert had 26, Brad Cox had 10, Pletcher 19 and Asmussen 16. With Grade 1 wins, Brown had 19, Baffert had 14, Cox had seven and Pletcher had five. When just isolate on just individual Grade 1 winners, Brown had an amazing 16 different Grade 1 scorers. Baffert had eight, Pletcher had five and Cox had three. So, Brown had the most money earned, the most graded stakes wins by far, the most Grade 1 wins by far and the most individual Grade 1 winners by far. There are still three Grade 1 races to be run this year – the Malibu Stakes and La Brea Stakes on December 26 followed on December 29 by the American Oaks, all at Santa Anita Park. Until they are run and the results are in, I have not made up my mind. Photo: Triple Crown winner Justify and trainer Bob Baffert (c) NYRA/Alysse Jacobs/Adam Coglianese Photography