With 84 winners from 479 North American starts, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin LLC amassed earnings of $17,403,204, to establish a new single-season record, according to statistics released Monday by Equibase Company LLC. The previous mark of $12.2 million was set in 2012 by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Additionally, runners sent out by trainer Brad Cox earned a record $31,832,345 in 2021, narrowly surpassing the $31.1 set in 2019 by trainer Chad Brown.
Leading the charge for Godolphin in 2021 was 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit), a leading contender for Eclipse Award honors with victories in the GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. en route to bankrolling $3,420,000 for the campaign. When factoring in earnings from the Saudi Cup meeting last February and Dubai World Cup night the following month, the stable's North American earnings topped $29.3 million, including 'Rising Star' and G1 World Cup hero Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the G2 UAE Derby. The Godolphin blue was carried to victory in three races on Breeders' Cup weekend at Del Mar, highlighted by standout successes from Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and from Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile. Godolphin raced 15 North American graded winners in 2021, a number that also includes GI Clark S. hero Maxfield (Street Sense) and Althiqa (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), victorious in the GI Just A Game S. at Belmont and the GI Diana S. at Saratoga.
Cox unsaddled the winners of 269 races from 1,025 starters in 2021, led by Knicks Go (Paynter), who capped a likely Horse of the Year campaign with a romping victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar to go with the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and GI Whitney S. Adding in earnings from Saudi Arabia and Dubai, the Cox stable was represented by the winners of $33.3 million. Knicks Go was North America's highest-earning Thoroughbred for the year with seasonal earnings of $5,824,140.
Joel Rosario, the regular rider of Knicks Go, finished the season with 228 victories from 1,083 rides in 2021, good for earnings of $32,944,478, a number that soars to $35.4 million when adding in earnings from the Middle East.
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