A good trainer or just a lucky one?

[karenkarenn]

What skills make a good trainer? Many owners out there that having a winning horse says that your trainer is a good one. But is there more than thay in horse racing?
Karen

[LB]

For me, these are the attributes a good trainer should have:

excellent horsemanship skills
a love of horses and desire to do right by them
pays attention to the smallest details
has very good help and keeps them happy
organizes/manages his operation like a business
can schmooze the powers-that-be at the tracks
has good relationships with good jockeys (and their agents)
doesn't need a lot of sleep

A good horse can make a bad trainer look good--for a while anyway. And a good trainer without good horses isn't going to accomplish much. So there's certainly an element of luck involved. But to be a good trainer, you have to have luck and all the right skills.

[Sysonby]

Everyone is hit by form cycles but there are definitely good trainers and bad trainers in Thoroughbred racing. Good trainers are on top of things before small problems become big problems. Good trainers tailor the training to the horse and not the horse to the training. Good trainers know how to read a condition book and honestly evaluate where a horse belongs to be competitive--and then lets the owner know when his dreams outpace the horse.

[ratherrapid]

i'd say the #1 quality of a "good" trainer would be that he/she keep your horse healthy and running. and, would go further to say that unless that happens, nothing else matters.

[bdw0617]

the ability to look good in a suit and talk to owners. because that's all you basically see on the high level these days. very little horsemanship IMHO

[madelyn]

I believe that a "good" trainer is a combination of someone with the very good horsemanship skills developed that are necessary to develop racehorses (as opposed to claiming horses who can run for up to 6-8 weeks on the efforts of the prior trainer), who is lucky enough to meet, and be hired to work for, owners who can buy good quality prospects and pay their training bills on time.

[karenkarenn]

Just FYI This isnt anything against the trainer that I have. I was just curious as to opinions and they are very good ones too.
Thanks guys.
karen

[Entry Blank]

A good trainer is someone who keeps the horses best intrests at heart, that they allow a horse to develope and try as hard as they can to prevent major injuries.

[zinn21]

Agree with most of the above. I think a great trainer is a good horseman, excellent caretaker who must be very competitive and confident. The last two are intangibles that all the really good ones have.

[westover]

There is a saying that " Good Horses Train Themselves". That aside In a day and age when Vet work is so prevalent in race barns.. I feel good horseman who train are a dying breed..

My first priority would be someone I feel, that would always put the horse' best interest first.

A good horseman is imperative for me & someone I have a good raport with.

[cng]

Good horses make good trainers, the HOF has many trainers that are only there because they were lucky enough to get a good racehorse and they didn't do anything to screw it up. Even bdw0617 could win with a good horse. Most trainers get far too much credit for being lucky.

[bdw0617]

Good horses make good trainers, the HOF has many trainers that are only there because they were lucky enough to get a good racehorse and they didn't do anything to screw it up. Even bdw0617 could win with a good horse. Most trainers get far too much credit for being lucky.

i'm a triple crown winning trainer in my dreams


with that said in all seriousness, is there a point where a trainer can be TOO conservative?

[karenkarenn]

Okay so how do we find the best trainers that have the highest percentages of the meet? Do we go online to equibase? The track website?
Karen

[ireneinwa]

Okay so how do we find the best trainers that have the highest percentages of the meet? Do we go online to equibase? The track website?
Karen

Both are a good start. I look for the trainer with least starters and highest % in the money. Just because I dont like big barns. The little guys to me seem to be more involved with your horse. Unless you have 20 head at the track and footing a $20k- $30k bill a month.

[TJ]

Okay so how do we find the best trainers that have the highest percentages of the meet? Do we go online to equibase? The track website?
Karen

Hi Karen,
The best way to do it is with a little research on your part, if you buy the DRF for a week or so you will have a pretty good idea of trainer statistics, especially those that Ireneinwa talked about as many of those won't appear in the overall standings at the meet. It is all there in black and white.....not only trainer win percentage but many other trainer stats....for instance, % wins for all 1st time starters or for 1st time starter 2YO's, % wins dirt to turf and turf to dirt, poly to dirt, dirt to poly, % wins after 180 days off, % wins 2nd off a layoff, % wins with a particular jockey, % wins going short to long or long to short.....I think you have the idea. It's a good piece of info and after you look that over for a week or so and see all the trainer stats available for every trainer at every track it will give you a pretty good idea of their capability. TJ