Report: 2024 sees 4% fewer Thoroughbred trainers

In another sign that racing’s footprint is shrinking, the number of active Thoroughbred trainers in the U.S. and Canada last year fell 4% from 2023, according to a report Saturday.

There were 3,886 trainers who had at least one start last year, according to Equibase figures compiled by Thoroughbred Daily News. There had been 4,058 in 2023.

The money is also not what it once was. The number of trainers who had at least $1 million in purse earnings fell to 276 last year. That represented 7% of those who were active. That was down slightly from the 283 in 2023. At the same time, 2,315 trainers or 60% fell short of $100,000 in purses. Median earnings of $61,289 represented a rise, though. Even adjusted for inflation, it has gone up 23% in the last five years.

Overall the decline has been steady for decades. TDN’s T.D. Thornton reported there were 4,955 active trainers in 2019, 6,262 in 2014 and 9,210 in 2004, meaning a 58% falloff in the past 20 years. Conversely, the number of $1 million trainers last year still was 26% higher than 2004, although inflation has cut the value of money by 40% in the past two decades.