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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 1387 27% 63% Great
880
322
185
Michael E Gorham 679 16% 48% Good
325
170
184
Scott A Lake 523 16% 50% Good
261
159
103
Gerald S Bennett 495 14% 47% Good
234
138
123
Baltazar Galvan 437 11% 40% Poor
173
138
126
Kelly Lynn Deiter 428 5% 23% Bad
99
149
180
Lynn A Ashby 408 18% 47% Good
190
122
96
Gary Capuano 388 24% 56% Great
219
109
60
Anthony Pecoraro 375 28% 59% Great
222
88
65
Andrew L Simoff 354 20% 53% Great
189
88
77
Michael Stidham 313 19% 54% Great
168
82
63
Jose A Ramirez 306 14% 44% Avg
136
95
75
Victor Carrasco 304 16% 49% Good
148
74
82
Cathal A Lynch 291 25% 57% Great
167
57
67
Greg Compton 280 20% 55% Great
154
72
54
Samuel F Cronk 277 10% 36% Poor
101
95
81
Chelsey E Moysey 274 15% 46% Avg
127
70
77
Pedro Nazario 266 12% 40% Avg
106
90
70
H Graham Motion 258 19% 55% Good
143
48
67
McLean Robertson 253 19% 53% Great
134
80
39
James L Lawrence 249 13% 39% Poor
98
74
77
Juan Miguel Arriagada 231 17% 61% Great
140
59
32
John Rigattieri 229 22% 52% Great
119
75
35
Gary C Contessa 214 16% 50% Good
106
54
54
John J Robb 212 19% 52% Great
111
59
42
Hugh I McMahon 211 18% 54% Great
114
58
39
Edward T Allard 208 18% 54% Great
112
51
45
Claudio A Gonzalez 206 25% 58% Great
119
52
35
Kieron Magee 203 24% 63% Great
128
38
37
Brittany T Russell 197 29% 68% Great
133
41
23
Cesar Nambo 193 7% 39% Poor
76
60
57
Pedro Posadas 193 8% 30% Bad
58
57
78
Thomas Iannotti 183 11% 39% Avg
72
66
45
Jose S Rodriguez 178 14% 42% Avg
75
50
53
Arnaud Delacour 176 23% 56% Great
99
44
33
Wallace C Neilson 167 10% 36% Poor
60
51
56
Richard J Hendriks 166 14% 43% Avg
71
46
49
Ramon Davila Aguayo 165 10% 41% Poor
68
45
52
Roque R Romero 164 3% 23% Bad
38
49
77
Kelly Rubley 160 12% 43% Avg
69
42
49
Jose M Camejo 159 20% 52% Good
83
34
42
Mark Shuman 154 13% 48% Avg
74
36
44
Jerenesto Torrez 153 29% 73% Great
112
30
11
Michael V Simone 153 16% 46% Good
71
45
37
Fenneka T Bentley 146 12% 41% Avg
60
45
41
Steve Klesaris 144 19% 44% Good
64
41
39
Jane Cibelli 144 19% 53% Good
76
26
42
Dale Capuano 143 21% 62% Great
89
31
23
Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon 139 19% 51% Great
71
38
30
Wayne Potts 135 14% 47% Good
63
49
23

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.