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Betting News - Top Trainers

Although natural ability plays a role in every horse race around the country, there is undoubtedly a human impact on the outcome of races. Jockeys and trainers can help horses reach their potential or prevent them from achieving it. Betting News trainer analysis tool is here to help horseplayers understand which type of trainers have runners in today's race.

One of the key elements of understanding trainers is the fact that trainers are creatures of habit. When they find something that works, they will repeat it over and over. This may include frequent success at a certain distance, on a certain surface, at a certain level, or during a specific meet. This is where the power of Betting News' trainer analysis tool can be a huge asset to any handicapper.

By using the filters a player can get away from using standard win and in-the-money percentages and instead break down how the trainer specifically does in races that fit today's conditions. This may suggest that a super trainer that everyone is likely to use may not have the horse ready to go today or that the little low percentage barn is ready to fire their one shot today. Either way it can mean a profitable day at the races. As you adjust the filters the DHP ratings will also adjust to reflect the trainer's proficiency at getting a horse in-the-money under the selected conditions.

Don't forget to check out the jockey analysis tool to give yourself a further edge on the competition!

Track

Surface

Condition

Distances

Race Types

Posts

Top Trainers

Name Starts Win % Show % DHP
1st/2nd/3rd
4th or 5th
6th +
Jamie Ness 1293 27% 64% Great
825
301
167
Michael E Gorham 630 16% 47% Good
298
159
173
Scott A Lake 521 16% 50% Good
260
158
103
Gerald S Bennett 495 14% 47% Good
234
138
123
Baltazar Galvan 437 11% 40% Poor
173
138
126
Lynn A Ashby 390 17% 46% Good
179
116
95
Kelly Lynn Deiter 368 5% 22% Bad
82
124
162
Gary Capuano 364 24% 57% Great
208
100
56
Anthony Pecoraro 354 28% 60% Great
212
82
60
Andrew L Simoff 333 20% 53% Great
176
83
74
Michael Stidham 284 19% 54% Great
154
74
56
Jose A Ramirez 279 15% 46% Good
127
87
65
Samuel F Cronk 277 10% 36% Poor
101
95
81
Victor Carrasco 276 14% 47% Avg
129
68
79
Chelsey E Moysey 274 15% 46% Avg
127
70
77
Cathal A Lynch 264 26% 59% Great
156
52
56
Greg Compton 248 19% 55% Great
137
63
48
H Graham Motion 241 19% 55% Good
132
46
63
Juan Miguel Arriagada 231 17% 61% Great
140
59
32
John Rigattieri 229 22% 52% Great
119
75
35
Pedro Nazario 226 13% 41% Avg
93
72
61
James L Lawrence 215 13% 40% Poor
87
62
66
McLean Robertson 214 20% 52% Great
112
69
33
Gary C Contessa 203 16% 48% Good
98
53
52
Hugh I McMahon 202 19% 55% Great
111
56
35
John J Robb 197 19% 53% Great
104
53
40
Claudio A Gonzalez 196 24% 58% Great
113
51
32
Edward T Allard 190 19% 53% Great
101
47
42
Brittany T Russell 183 28% 67% Great
122
39
22
Pedro Posadas 181 8% 30% Bad
54
54
73
Arnaud Delacour 176 23% 56% Great
99
44
33
Thomas Iannotti 174 12% 40% Avg
69
61
44
Kieron Magee 173 24% 65% Great
113
28
32
Cesar Nambo 170 8% 42% Poor
71
51
48
Roque R Romero 164 3% 23% Bad
38
49
77
Jose M Camejo 159 20% 52% Good
83
34
42
Jose S Rodriguez 157 14% 41% Avg
64
45
48
Wallace C Neilson 154 9% 35% Bad
54
47
53
Jerenesto Torrez 153 29% 73% Great
112
30
11
Ramon Davila Aguayo 152 9% 38% Poor
58
44
50
Richard J Hendriks 150 14% 43% Avg
64
40
46
Kelly Rubley 148 14% 43% Avg
64
39
45
Jane Cibelli 144 19% 53% Good
76
26
42
Dale Capuano 143 21% 62% Great
89
31
23
Steve Klesaris 140 19% 44% Avg
62
39
39
Mark Shuman 139 12% 48% Avg
67
33
39
Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon 139 19% 51% Great
71
38
30
Fenneka T Bentley 136 12% 42% Avg
57
42
37
Wayne Potts 135 14% 47% Good
63
49
23
Joseph Arboritanza 132 7% 30% Bad
39
47
46

Why Trainers Matter?

Trainers are entrusted by the owners of the horse to prepare them to win races. Think of a trainer like the coach of a team. Individually the trainer cannot win the race, but the way the trainer prepares the athlete for the race can maximize the horse’s ability. This becomes especially important as horses start to mature beyond their two year old season.

Why is the DHP Top Trainer Tool Helpful?

Horses can be upgraded or downgraded based on their trainers, but many people will overgeneralize the effectiveness of a trainer based on their overall win percentage. However, even the best trainers have blind spots and the weakest trainers have some ability that allows them to pay bills and attract new owners to their barn.

Using the DHP Top Trainer Tool for a Race

To use the top jockey tool follow the steps below:

  1. Change the drop down menus to match any or all of the conditions for the race you are handicapping.
    • Track: Many trainers will have meets that they like to point their horses to. It is very hard to have horses fully cranked year round. Knowing which meets a trainer targets can be a great separator.
    • Surface: With dirt and turf surfaces running so dramatically different in terms of race flow, it is not surprising that many trainers who excel on dirt are less effective with turf runners. The same is true for those who are prolific with turfers.
    • Condition: This factor plays the biggest role when the ground is not fast or firm. Off tracks typically will favor trainers that are good at putting early speed into their horses.
    • Distance: Horse races are often classified as either sprints (less than 8 furlongs) or routes (one mile and over). However, dynamics can change dramatically depending on the various lengths within each of these categories. If a trainer is good at training sprinters, they may be left vulnerable in route races and vice versa.
    • Race Types: This is especially important for trainers. Some trainers get the best of the best talent at the track which will be reflected with high marks in the stakes and allowance ranks. Some trainers are masters of the claiming game (buying and selling horses out of races). A claiming trainer who sends out a stakes runner may be in too deep. A top stakes trainer may be racking up high percentages with good animals but when they drop to the claiming ranks, they can’t move average horses forward. Understanding which levels the trainer excels at is paramount to unlocking hidden value in races.
    • Barriers/Post Positions: Post position stats for trainers are of limited importance and may be used to eliminate horses in clear weak spots for the trainer, but likely won’t uncover any actionable angle by itself. This filter can still be useful, but should be used in combinations with other filters in the menu.
  2. Once you have set any or all of the filters, select the “Refresh Charts” button to see the updated data which reflects your race.

Using the Top Trainer Tool for an Individual Trainer

While the top trainer tool is extremely effective for comparing all trainers in a given race, it can also be a major factor when analyzing an individual trainer.

This can be done from the top trainer charts. Simply find the trainer you want to look up and click their name. You will now see a report of their rating and percentages at every one of the filters from the top trainer tool.

Using this view you may be able to identify spots where you can beat a high percentage trainer. For example, Bob Baffert wins at a nearly 30% clip across all races. His horses are often crushed at the windows and offer little value. However, looking closer at the trainer profile the is rated as “Poor” on turf. Many people will see the 28% winning percentage and bet his horses without recognizing that many of his turf runners do not perform to the level of his dirt contingent. This can provide a great advantage for the horse player who can look to fade this super trainer on turf.