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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 +
Chad C Brown 1157 22% 59% Great
687
263
207
Todd A Pletcher 915 19% 50% Good
455
229
231
William I Mott 694 15% 45% Avg
312
176
206
Michael J Maker 677 15% 41% Poor
280
162
235
Linda Rice 601 17% 54% Good
324
126
151
Rudy R Rodriguez 597 12% 36% Bad
215
158
224
Christophe Clement 519 18% 51% Good
267
129
123
Steven M Asmussen 416 22% 52% Good
215
95
106
David G Donk 357 10% 32% Bad
115
115
127
Jeremiah C Englehart 346 15% 39% Poor
136
68
142
Mark E Casse 334 13% 41% Poor
138
85
111
George Weaver 305 10% 40% Poor
122
87
96
Brad H Cox 297 24% 59% Great
176
53
68
Claude R McGaughey 248 14% 40% Avg
99
74
75
Wesley A Ward 241 20% 51% Good
123
57
61
Jorge R Abreu 240 17% 45% Avg
108
57
75
Raymond Handal 235 14% 38% Poor
90
58
87
Mark A Hennig 219 11% 32% Bad
70
52
97
Michelle Nevin 219 10% 35% Bad
76
57
86
Danny Gargan 217 16% 48% Avg
104
49
64
Joe Sharp 206 15% 38% Poor
79
45
82
Thomas Morley 203 13% 35% Bad
71
45
87
Gary C Contessa 199 8% 33% Bad
65
57
77
Rob Atras 199 14% 44% Avg
87
61
51
H Graham Motion 189 12% 42% Poor
79
49
61
Kenneth G McPeek 189 13% 39% Poor
73
54
62
John C Kimmel 176 11% 37% Bad
65
42
69
Bruce N Levine 165 15% 39% Poor
65
45
55
Charlton Baker 165 13% 35% Poor
58
49
58
D Wayne Lukas 165 8% 35% Bad
58
37
70
Bruce R Brown 164 7% 23% Bad
37
46
81
Gary Sciacca 157 6% 21% Bad
33
48
76
Thomas Albertrani 155 12% 33% Bad
51
37
67
Chris J Englehart 154 12% 36% Bad
55
36
63
John P Terranova 153 14% 40% Poor
61
37
55
James W Ferraro 149 3% 15% Bad
23
36
90
Orlando Noda 147 15% 44% Poor
65
23
59
Robertino Diodoro 146 14% 50% Good
73
37
36
Thomas M Amoss 143 15% 40% Poor
57
41
45
Carlos F Martin 142 12% 29% Bad
41
35
66
Mertkan Kantarmaci 138 19% 45% Good
62
38
38
H James Bond 135 18% 40% Poor
54
35
46
Michael J Trombetta 135 14% 38% Poor
51
35
49
Saffie A Joseph Jr 134 13% 41% Poor
55
36
43
James T Ryerson 130 8% 27% Bad
35
45
50
Randi Persaud 129 2% 11% Bad
14
33
82
Paz Horacio De 119 13% 50% Avg
59
28
32
Philip M Serpe 116 14% 37% Poor
43
34
39
Barclay Tagg 115 14% 39% Poor
45
27
43
Nicholas P Zito 113 3% 20% Bad
23
29
61

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.