“He's doing beautifully. He's very proud of himself,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “The race went beautifully and it was everything we hoped for. We're very proud of his win and excited about who he is.”

The Travers was the first Grade I win for Epicenter, who was runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S.

“We wanted it for him and for his fans,” said Asmussen. “We got so many congratulations and the respect for him–you enjoy that so much. To win the Travers here at Saratoga with the fans that are here is an extremely proud thing for us.”

Of Epicenter's possible route to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Asmussen said, “We'll discuss it. It all depends on how he's training. We're very confident to train him up to the Classic with how well he ran sharp in the Jim Dandy when fresh.”

Asmussen's Saturday at Saratoga also included runner-up finishes in the GI Forego S. with Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. with Gunite (Gun Runner).

“He came out of the race in excellent shape. Never defeated, just second-place,” Asmussen said, with a laugh, of Jackie's Warrior's first loss at Saratoga. “He is an unbelievable horse to be around. You have no control over how the other guy runs and Cody's Wish ran a phenomenal race.”

Jackie's Warrior is still on target for the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm.

As for Gunite, also owned by the Winchells, Asmussen said, “We're so proud of him,” said Asmussen. “He's such a tough horse. I don't know what's next, we still have to decide. All of our conversations last night were about Epicenter.”

Stonestreet Stables Clairiere (Curlin) exited her disappointing last-place effort in Saturday's GI Personal Ensign S. with a cut tongue, according to Asmussen.

“Clairiere had a significant cut on her tongue that we're going to doctor,” Asmussen said. “We'll get that healed up and resume training. I don't imagine [the cut] helped.”

The post Epicenter Exits Runhappy Travers in Fine Shape appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Sure enough, the historic Lexington, Ky., farm owned since 2012 by reclusive billionaire Brad Kelley was atop the list of individual breeders with more than $9.7 million in 2020 North American earnings by horses it bred. If you take partnerships into account, Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky. – second behind Calumet on the individual list – was the North American leader with $11.7 million in earnings.

I don't judge the quality of restaurants or decide where to eat by looking at who generates the most revenue. If I did, I'd wind up at McDonald's three meals a day. So it stands to reason that there must be another way to look at this year-end list, which includes statistics for the top 100 breeders by North American earnings. The data includes starters, starts, wins, seconds, thirds, earnings and black type stakes winners.

I took the liberty of adding a few statistical columns that provide some context to the leading breeders list, including average number of starts per starter, percentage of wins from starts, average earnings per start and percentage of black type winners from starters.

The list below (which excluded a handful of breeders with fewer than five starters each) ranks North American breeders by average earnings per start. Topping the list in this category is Knowles Bloodstock ($55,847 per start), which had just six starters but included Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner Wells Bayou among them. Second is Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, whose $22,705 average was buoyed considerably by the $7,170,000 earned by probable Horse of the Year Authentic.

Ranked 74th on the list of leading breeders by average earnings per start is Calumet Farm, whose 479 runners averaged $3,776 per start. WinStar Farm, with 214 starters, ranks 19th nationally with $8,122 earnings per start – more than twice that of Calumet.

Another way of looking at excellence in breeding is black type winners. Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin and Barbara Banke's Stonestreet led the way with each breeding 13 North American stakes winners. WinStar and Calumet were next with 10 each.

If you look at the list by percentage of black type winners from starters (minimum five starters), Knowles Bloodstock again leads the way with 33.33% (2-of-6), followed by China Horse Club International Ltd, with 16.67% (4-of-24).

Stonestreet ranks ninth by percentage of stakes winners from starters, at 8.55%, with Godolphin 12th at 8.02%. WinStar Farm is 33rd at 4.67% and Calumet Farm is 62nd at 2.09%.

So who was the top North American breeder in 2020? If you go by quantity, it's Calumet, which had 75% more starters than runner-up WinStar Farm. In my opinion, quality trumps quantity.

Category leaders listed in bold/italics.

The post Leading North American Breeders For 2020: A Different Take appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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