Super Trainer Definition and Baffert

[ClockersCorner]

The super trainer thread devolved into a "he said, she said" rant about drugs. The linked article talks about Lukas being the first with more than 40-50 horses stabled in one place, in a sense transitioning from trainer to CEO. That led me to look at some statistics from Equibase for 2017.

For the 2017 year for North America Baffert horses had 313 starts.

Asmussen had 1,909 starts. Casse had 1,323. Pletcher had 1,053. Hollendorfer had 971. Chad Brown had 820. Super sized indeed.

If you go by "Starters" instead of Starts Baffert ranked 55th.

That indicates to me that he has a much smaller barn and in that sense operates more like a Charlie Whittingham than a modern "super trainer".

He is super successful by just about any definition, but the way he does it seems to be quite different than the other big names.

[RunForTheRoses]

I agrre, Finley is a little loose with the definition, they are all fairly different. Assmussen has a lot of claimers at some of the tracks he teains at. Where does Diodoro and Cox fit in? Chad Brown has a very unique situation to me, as does Baffert.

[thaskalos]

"Super-trainer" is a phrase originally coined by Andy Beyer...and its intended meaning was to describe those trainers who rose from relative obscurity to levels where they won races at a 30% rate, or higher. Those who seek to describe the mega-trainers of today should invent another phrase to use...because "super-trainer" is already taken.

[RunForTheRoses]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

"Super-trainer" is a phrase originally coined by Andy Beyer...and its intended meaning was to describe those trainers who rose from relative obscurity to levels where they won races at a 30% rate, or higher. Those who seek to describe the mega-trainers of today should invent another phrase to use...because "super-trainer" is already taken.

Exactly. Better term for Finley might be Elite trainer or something.

[cj]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

"Super-trainer" is a phrase originally coined by Andy Beyer...and its intended meaning was to describe those trainers who rose from relative obscurity to levels where they won races at a 30% rate, or higher. Those who seek to describe the mega-trainers of today should invent another phrase to use...because "super-trainer" is already taken.

I agree, these terms seem to have been mixed up lately. Wayne Lukas was the original mega trainer, and was never what one would think of as a super trainer by the way I saw it used.

[GMB@BP]

I agree with this thread

Super trainer has meant at times those that win at a very high percentage, 30% or so.

Then its at times meant those with very large stables, high win percentages, who can dominate and kind of run what races are being run and how big the fields may be.

Baffert has maybe the 4th or 5th sized stable in socal right now. He chooses quality over quantity. He is important in terms of getting good races to run but there are many races he is not in so he has little affect on the entry box.