Graded racing in America: who are the human champions of 2016?

Javier Castellano: clear top performer among U.S.-based jockeys in 2016, according to TRC Global Rankings. Photo: NYRA.com

We’re just six days from the Eclipse Awards ceremony at Gulfstream Park, where America’s racing champions for 2016 will be crowned. As yet, the TRC Global Rankings algorithm does not assess active racehorses, so it can provide no insight on the 12 equine sections. But it most certainly does rank three other significant award categories - jockeys, trainers and owners. Here are its final top tens in each for the year.

These standings take into account all Graded races on U.S. soil - but just for 2016, not for the last three years as in the case of the main TRC Global Rankings.

TOP TEN JOCKEYS

Rank

Name

Modal country

Rnrs

Runs

IV

tRPR

G1s

G2s

G3s

Pts

1

Javier Castellano

USA

114

172

1.35

98.81

9

12

14

1157

2

Florent Geroux

USA

89

138

1.34

96.18

8

4

15

1137

3

Mike E Smith

USA

71

105

1.26

97.05

10

8

4

1129

4

Julien R Leparoux

USA

77

114

1.24

95.82

4

8

9

1117

5

Jose L Ortiz

USA

72

112

1.23

94.87

4

4

15

1109

6

Joel Rosario

USA

68

104

1.19

95.01

7

5

8

1103

7

Flavien Prat

USA

66

93

1.10

93.07

7

5

3

1074

 

Irad Ortiz Jr

USA

81

123

1.02

95.19

4

5

9

1074

 

Rafael Bejarano

USA

65

92

1.08

93.69

5

7

4

1074

10

Joe Bravo

USA

58

82

1.12

92.49

4

4

7

1073

The three Eclipse nominations - Castellano, Smith and Jose Ortiz - all made the top five most successful performers in Graded competition, with Castellano well clear. The stats indicate that Frenchman Geroux could be forgiven if he felt a little hard done by after not receiving a nomination.

TOP TEN TRAINERS

Rank

Name

Modal country

Rnrs

Runs

IV

tRPR

G1s

G2s

G3s

Pts

1

Chad C Brown

USA

78

199

1.46

100.22

12

12

17

1120

2

Todd Pletcher

USA

79

190

1.16

98.96

7

6

19

1088

3

Bob Baffert

USA

36

87

1.38

95.70

11

6

6

1073

4

Mark Casse

USA

47

112

1.22

95.41

6

4

10

1060

5

Jerry Hollendorfer

USA

32

84

1.10

93.82

6

4

6

1037

6

William Mott

USA

31

74

1.01

92.01

5

4

2

1015

7

H Graham Motion

USA

33

72

1.16

90.68

4

2

7

1013

8

Kiaran McLaughlin

USA

22

54

1.06

91.37

5

5

1

1012

9

Philip D'Amato

USA

34

73

0.99

91.55

2

4

5

1009

10

Steven Asmussen

USA

37

88

0.86

92.23

3

2

4

1007

Again, the nominations (Brown, Baffert and Casse) all made the top five (top four in this case), but the case for Brown is undeniable. The most notable omission is obviously Pletcher, who clearly had yet another fine season but lacked a true standout performer.  

TOP TEN OWNERS

Rank

Name

Modal country

Rnrs

Runs

IV

tRPR

G1s

G2s

G3s

Pts

1

Coolmore Partners

USA

27

43

1.09

86.34

3

6

1

1054

2

Stonestreet Stables

USA

10

31

0.99

84.88

3

2

4

1026

3

Gary Barber Et Al

USA

23

55

0.93

85.71

2

0

6

1025

3

Klaravich Stables Inc & William H Lawrence

USA

16

44

0.96

85.27

3

3

3

1025

5

John C Oxley

USA

12

31

1.00

84.53

3

1

4

1024

6

WinStar Farm Et Al

USA

10

33

0.97

84.69

4

0

3

1021

7

Reddam Racing LLC

USA

17

48

0.88

85.72

2

3

1

1018

8

Hronis Racing LLC

USA

11

36

0.89

85.16

2

2

2

1014

9

Godolphin

USA

21

39

0.87

85.10

2

3

1

1011

 

Kenneth L & Sarah K Ramsey

USA

24

48

0.88

84.95

0

2

4

1011

Here the TRC rankings bare little resemblance to the Eclipse nominations, only one of whom actually made the ten (the Ramseys). The other two, Juddmonte and Spendthrift Farm, earn their chances through the exploits of one or two outstanding runners (Arrogate and Flintshire in the case of Juddmonte, Beholder for Spendthrift), but none of the three owners was prolific in Graded racing generally.

It is interesting that the overall world #1, Coolmore Partners, are powerful enough here to extend their dominance to the U.S. scene, helped to no small extent by a number of Aidan O’Brien raiders, led by Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Highland Reel.

and here are the stallion standings for good measure ...

TOP TEN SIRES

Rank

Name

Modal country

Rnrs

Runs

IV

tRPR

G1s

G2s

G3s

Pts

1

Tapit

USA

55

131

1.18

94.53

7

11

5

1105

2

Curlin

USA

26

66

1.04

91.43

8

2

3

1066

3

Medaglia D'oro

USA

31

67

1.08

90.72

6

2

6

1063

4

Candy Ride

USA

25

64

1.10

89.90

2

5

7

1057

5

Uncle Mo

USA

33

82

1.01

90.37

3

4

5

1054

6

Bernardini

USA

37

82

0.92

90.83

2

4

6

1052

7

City Zip

USA

21

59

1.12

88.64

2

1

9

1047

8

Kitten's Joy

USA

31

66

1.05

88.09

2

3

6

1036

9

Giant's Causeway

USA

21

56

0.84

88.77

1

1

4

1027

10

Scat Daddy

USA

28

62

0.88

88.14

3

4

0

1024


No real surprises here. There’s no Eclipse Award for outstanding stallion, but if there was it would surely go to Tapit, who is out on his own for Graded results in 2016 (and just about every other measure). Curlin, sire of Exaggerator, just edged out Medaglia d’Oro, whose standout was Songbird, in the battle for second, with Uncle Mo, in fifth, sire of Kentucky Derby hero Nyquist and worthy of all the superlatives at the end of just his second season.

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