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 +
O'Neill Doug F 2195 17% 46% Good
1020
584
591
D'Amato Philip 1923 19% 51% Good
976
456
491
Sadler John W 1433 17% 49% Good
701
372
360
Glatt Mark 1396 19% 53% Great
739
324
333
Miller Peter 1377 18% 47% Good
645
339
393
Baltas Richard 1164 16% 48% Good
555
286
323
Baffert Bob 1098 27% 62% Great
683
244
171
Papaprodromou George 1079 13% 37% Poor
404
297
378
McCarthy Michael W 952 16% 45% Avg
429
227
296
Mullins Jeff 888 19% 48% Good
426
228
234
Eurton Peter 818 17% 49% Good
397
192
229
Hess Robert B 721 11% 40% Poor
286
208
227
Mandella Richard E 695 21% 50% Good
346
164
185
Knapp Steve R 685 14% 41% Avg
282
190
213
Gaines Carla 652 12% 41% Poor
268
168
216
Puype Mike 650 16% 42% Avg
275
167
208
Powell Leonard 621 14% 43% Avg
266
162
193
Miyadi Steven 577 16% 47% Avg
271
145
161
Cerin Vladimir 572 16% 49% Good
279
154
139
Yakteen Tim 545 17% 46% Good
248
149
148
Koriner Brian J 541 14% 43% Poor
233
127
181
Palma Hector O 526 12% 34% Poor
180
169
177
Hanson Ryan 509 13% 36% Poor
184
144
181
Lewis Craig Anthony 494 14% 44% Avg
218
152
124
Knapp Steve 450 14% 44% Avg
198
121
131
Gallagher Patrick 436 11% 31% Bad
134
129
173
Brinkerhoff Val 426 7% 34% Bad
144
133
149
Shirreffs John A 426 14% 48% Avg
204
103
119
Drysdale Neil D 406 11% 32% Bad
130
120
156
Bonde Jeff 400 10% 41% Poor
163
106
131
Callaghan Simon 390 14% 46% Avg
178
97
115
Desormeaux J Keith 324 12% 43% Avg
139
84
101
Kruljac J Eric 322 16% 39% Poor
127
80
115
Blacker Dan 314 15% 40% Poor
125
87
102
Periban Jorge 313 11% 33% Bad
104
95
114
Barocio Librado 304 14% 42% Avg
127
93
84
Hollendorfer Jerry 290 19% 45% Avg
130
79
81
Mulhall Kristin 270 17% 47% Good
127
74
69
McCarthy Sean 265 17% 44% Avg
117
68
80
Gomez Ruben 258 3% 19% Bad
48
89
121
Wong Jonathan 255 12% 41% Poor
104
69
82
Kruljac Ian 247 10% 34% Bad
85
73
89
Ellis Ronald W 245 15% 42% Avg
102
73
70
Dollase Craig 245 11% 41% Poor
100
61
84
Spawr William 242 15% 48% Avg
115
54
73
Cassidy James M 241 11% 33% Bad
79
70
92
Stute Gary 230 11% 42% Poor
96
64
70
Belvoir Vann 230 10% 34% Bad
78
64
88
Saldana Reed 228 11% 35% Bad
79
68
81
Mendez Luis 216 16% 44% Avg
95
61
60

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.