Top 10 Breeders’ Cup Trainers

1. D. Wayne Lukas (161-19-22-16) - With by far the most starters, winners, and money earned, it would be hard to put anyone on top of this list other than D. Wayne Lukas. He famously finished 1-2-3 in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Open Mind, Darby Shuffle, and Lea Lucinda. He’s won that race, as well as the male counterpart, a record five times each. Among his most well known Breeders’ Cup winners include Lady’s Secret, who finished 2nd in the 1985 Distaff to a Lukas trained Life’s Magic, before winning in 1986 on her way to a Horse of the Year title, Flanders, the undefeated Juvenile Fillies winner of 1994, and Cat Thief, the Classic winner of 1999. His 19th and most recent BC win came with Hightail in the 2012 Juvenile Sprint.

2. Richard Mandella (38-8-3-2) - Despite starting only 38 horses, Richard Mandella is right there in the running for second most Breeders’ Cup wins by a trainer, with eight. His winning percentage of 21% is the highest of any conditioner with at least ten starters. His most recognizable runner in the World Championships has been Beholder, who has won a Breeders’ Cup race in each of the last two years. Most impressively, he won four BC races in one afternoon with Halfbridled (Juvenile Fillies), Action This Day (Juvenile), Johar (Turf), and Pleasantly Perfect in the Classic of 2003.

3. Bill Mott (77-9-10-5) - Second on the Breeders’ Cup trainer’s list  by money won, and still going strong, Bill Mott has collected nearly $17 million from only 77 starters. He had his best BC year in 2011 when he won the biggest BC race on consecutive days with Royal Delta in the Distaff, and then Drosselmeyer in the Classic. The former became only the second filly to win the Distaff back-to-back with another win in 2012. Mott’s best Breeders’ Cup winner was the 1995 Classic winner and Hall of Fame member, Cigar, who just recently passed away at the age of 24.

4. Bob Baffert (83-10-11-3) - With ten Breeders’ Cup wins, Bob Baffert stands in second behind only D. Wayne Lukas on the all-time list. Among his top accomplishments in the World Championships include training two different horses to win at the Breeders’ Cup twice, with Midnight Lute in the Sprint in 2007 & 2008, and Secret Circle in the 2011 Juvenile Sprint, and the 2013 Sprint. This year, Baffert will be looking for his fourth win in the Juvenile, and his initial win in the Classic with the talented duo of American Pharoah and Bayern.

5. Shug McGaughey (58-9-10-2) - Easy Goer, perhaps the best horse ever trained by the Hall of Fame trainer, was upset while finishing second in two different Breeders’ Cup races, but still McGaughey has managed nine wins in the World Championships. Tops on his list of Breeders’ Cup highlights include the unbeaten champion, Personal Ensign, winning one of the most thrilling races in BC history when she defeated Winning Colors in the 1988 Distaff, as well as, back-to-back easy Mile wins with Lure in 1992 & 1993.

6. Sir Michael Stoute (34-6-2-3) - The first European based trainer on the list, Sir Michael Stoute has never been afraid to bring his top runners over to the States for the Breeders’ Cup. He’s been doing it since the beginning and his record demonstrates that he’s done it successfully. Conduit, two-time winner of the Turf in 2008 & 2009, has been his most successful BC runner, but other grass stars like Islington, Pilsudski, Kalanisi, and Dank are not far behind.

7. Aidan O’Brien (88-8-12-7) - Third all-time on the money won list with better than $14.6 million, the European based trainer has been a regular at the Breeders’ Cup for the better part of a decade and a half. Ironically, he collected his first BC win on the dirt with Johannesburg in 2001. Since then, he has been a dominant figure in the Breeders’ Cup Turf with four victories in the last twelve runnings, including back-to-back wins by High Chaparral in 2002 & 2003.

8. Neil Drysdale (35-6-5-2) - With five winners in the first ten years of the Breeders’ Cup, Neil Drysdale was clearly one of training stars of the early days of the World Championships. Among his biggest BC victories include the powerful and popular wins of Princess Rooney in the inaugural running of the Distaff, and a Classic victory by A.P. Indy in 1992, as well as, the 1989 Turf win by Prized, while making his first career start on the grass.

9. Todd Pletcher (103-7-11-13) - Other than the total of his former boss, D. Wayne Lukas, no trainer has started more horses in the Breeders’ Cup than Todd Pletcher. While his winning percentage is not high, he is in the top five in earnings, and top seven in wins all-time. BC highlights for the multiple Eclipse Award winning trainer include two Juvenile wins in three years with his championship pair of Uncle Mo and Shanghai Bobby.

10. Bobby Frankel (82-6-10-8) - Taken from the world way too soon, Bobby Frankel had as much Breeders’ Cup success as any trainer in the first decade of the 21st century. He twice pulled off the upset in the Filly & Mare Turf, but none of his World Championship victories were bigger than the romping 2004 BC Classic win of Ghostzapper, in which the Hall of Fame champion set the stakes record which still stands.