Cox, Asmussen, Brown lead top-earning trainers in 2021

Brad Cox followed up a career-best 2020 campaign with a 2021 season that saw his runners win more money than those of any other North American trainer.

Cox’s runners collected $33.2 million this season, enough to put him atop the trainer earnings list.

To be eligible for this list, a trainer had to start at least one runner on North American soil. For those who did, earnings from the Dubai World Cup and Saudi Cup cards were included in these totals.

1. Brad Cox, $33.2 million

Notable 2021 wins: Belmont Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, Essential Quality; Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), Del Mar, Knicks Go; Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), Gulfstream Park, Knicks Go; Travers Stakes (G1), Saratoga, Essential Quality; Haskell Stakes (G1), Monmouth Park, Mandaloun

Cox won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer after the 2020 season and is a prime candidate to earn those honors for a second time. The Louisville, Ky., native collected his first win in an American Classic when Essential Quality took the Belmont Stakes. Cox also is in line to have his first Horse of the Year honoree with Knicks Go, who capped his season with a front-running Breeders’ Cup Classic score. He will saddle the five-time Grade 1 winner once more next month at Gulfstream as he aims to win the Pegasus for the second straight year.

2. Steve Asmussen, $31.54 million

Notable 2021 wins: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Del Mar, Echo Zulu; Cotillion Stakes (G1), Parx, Clairiere; Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), Saratoga, Max Player; Arkansas Derby (G1), Oaklawn Park, Super Stock; Metropolitan Handicap (G1), Belmont Park, Silver State

Asmussen made history this summer at Saratoga when Stellar Tap gave the trainer career win No. 9,446, most all-time among North American trainers. His 453 wins this season through Monday also lead all peers. Asmussen has the likely champion 2-year-old filly in Echo Zulu, who scored Grade 1 wins in the Spinaway Stakes, Frizette Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. He also has saddled three of the last four Met Mile winners, with Silver State taking the race’s 2021 running.

3. Chad Brown, $22.19 million

Notable 2021 wins: Turf Classic Stakes (G1), Churchill Downs, Domestic Spending; Manhattan Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, Domestic Spending; United Nations Stakes (G1), Monmouth Park, Tribhuvan; Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1), Keeneland, Shantisara; Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, Rockemperor

Brown, a three-time Eclipse Award winner as North America’s top trainer, saw nine of his runners combine to win 10 Grade 1 races in 2021. Domestic Spending’s Turf Classic win was especially memorable, as it came in a dead heat with rival Colonel Liam. They squared off again in the Manhattan Stakes, where Domestic Spending posted a convincing 2 3/4-length win. Brown has a leading 2022 Kentucky Derby trail prospect in Champagne Stakes (G1) hero Jack Christopher.

4. Todd Pletcher, $21.97 million

Notable 2021 wins: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Del Mar, Life Is Good; Kentucky Oaks (G1), Churchill Downs, Malathaat; Turf Classic Stakes (G1), Churchill Downs, Colonel Liam; Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1), Gulfstream Park, Colonel Liam; Florida Derby (G1), Gulfstream Park, Known Agenda

Pletcher was inducted this August into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The seven-time Eclipse Award winner added to his resume by leading all North American trainers this season with 35 graded-stakes wins. Pletcher campaigned likely champion 3-year-old filly Malathaat to wins in three of her division’s biggest races: the Ashland Stakes (G1), Kentucky Oaks, and Alabama Stakes (G1). He won the 12th Breeders’ Cup race of his career with Life Is Good, who is scheduled to battle Knicks Go next month at Gulfstream in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

5. Bob Baffert, $17.98 million

Notable 2021 wins: Kentucky Derby (G1), Churchill Downs, Medina Spirit; Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Del Mar, Corniche; Ballerina Handicap (G1), Saratoga, Gamine; Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1), Churchill Downs, Gamine; Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), Del Mar, Grace Adler

Baffert set the record for most Kentucky Derby wins by any trainer when Medina Spirit held off rival Mandaloun to become his seventh winner. A failed post-race drug test soon became the biggest story of the sport, leading to a two-year suspension by Churchill Downs and putting the Derby win in jeopardy. Amid all the off-track drama, Medina Spirit finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic but died weeks later of an apparent heart attack after a workout. Baffert conditions Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Corniche, but that colt currently is ineligible to obtain Derby points because of his Hall of Fame trainer’s suspension.

6. Mike Maker, $14.91 million

Notable 2021 wins: Bowling Green Stakes (G2), Saratoga, Cross Border; Seabiscuit Handicap (G2), Del Mar, Field Pass; George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2), Pimlico, Army Wife; Phoenix Stakes (G2), Keeneland, Special Reserve; Dinner Party Stakes (G2), Pimlico, Somelikeithotbrown

Maker enjoyed his career-best earnings mark in 2021, surpassing the $14.22 million his runners collected in 2020. His best weekend of the year came in May at Pimlico. Maker won four graded stakes over the Friday and Saturday of Preakness weekend, including the Black-Eyed Susan with Army Wife, who went on to a next-out Iowa Oaks (G3) victory. Special Reserve took two graded wins this season before finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

7. Mark Casse, $14.81 million

Notable 2021 wins: Fourstardave Handicap (G1), Saratoga, Got Stormy; Tampa Bay Derby (G2), Tampa Bay Downs, Helium; Best Pal Stakes (G2), Del Mar, Pappacap; King Edward Stakes (G2), Woodbine, Olympic Runner; Selene Stakes (G3), Woodbine, Our Flash Drive

Casse was selected in 2020 for election into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame but had to wait until this summer for his induction ceremony. He already was a member of the Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame. His only Grade 1 win this season came in the Fourstardave, which mare Got Stormy won for the second time in the last three years. Best Pal winner Pappacap finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is training toward the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail at Fair Grounds.

8. Bill Mott, $13.09 million

Notable 2021 wins: Flower Bowl Stakes (G1), Saratoga, War Like Goddess; Woodward Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, Art Collector; Jaipur Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, Casa Creed; Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2), Charles Town, Art Collector; Eight Belles Stakes (G2), Churchill Downs, Obligatory

Mott, another Hall of Famer, earned a trio of Grade 1 wins this season on the New York Racing Association circuit. He took over training duties this summer for 2020 Blue Grass Stakes (G2) winner Art Collector and enjoyed stakes wins in the Alydar, Charles Town Classic and Woodward. Art Collector delivered Mott his fifth score in the Woodward, a race he took twice with the legendary Cigar. Filly War Like Goddess won four straight races, including the Flower Bowl, before finishing third as the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf favorite.

9. Michael Stidham, $11.78 million

Notable 2021 wins: Dubai World Cup (G1), Meydan Racecourse, Mystic Guide; Hillsborough Stakes (G2), Tampa Bay Downs, Micheline; Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2), Del Mar, Princess Grace; Mint Million Stakes (G3), Kentucky Downs, Pixelate; Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3), Kentucky Downs, Princess Grace

Stidham scored the biggest win of his training career when Mystic Guide went to the Middle East and earned owner-breeder Godolphin’s ninth Dubai World Cup win. The Ghostzapper colt made only two other starts during 2021, as a knee chip cost him the second half of his season. Mystic Guide is back to work for Stidham, with the goal of winning a U.S. Grade 1 race in 2022 as a 5-year-old. Among his other trainees, Princess Grace enjoyed three straight graded-stakes wins this season, coming at Parx, Del Mar and Kentucky Downs.

10. Christophe Clement, $9.96 million

Notable 2021 wins: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), Del Mar, Pizza Bianca; Sword Dancer Stakes (G1), Saratoga, Gufo; E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1), Woodbine, Mutamakina; Canadian Stakes (G2), Woodbine, La Dragontea; Dance Smartly Stakes (G2), Woodbine, Mutamakina

Clement entered the 2021 Breeders’ Cup with a 0-for-40 career record in the World Championships. He ended that drought thanks to Pizza Bianca, who flew up late under jockey Jose Ortiz to win the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Clement said the filly will target the New York Racing Association’s Turf Triple series in 2022, a trio of races that starts with the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1). Mutamakina earned three graded-stakes wins this season, including by a neck in the E.P. Taylor over stablemate La Dragontea.