5 Trainers Dominate Triple Crown Nominees, Led By Pletcher, Baffert, Asmussen

By Richard Rosenblatt

For those who like to toss around names and numbers – and in horse racing who doesn’t? — consider these Triple Crown nuggets:

Five of the nation’s most prominent trainers (Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown and Brad Cox) combined to nominate 37.4% of the 326 3-year-olds for the 2021 Triple Crown.

For those counting, Pletcher (as usual) led all trainers with 45 nominees, while Baffert trains 23 nominees, Asmussen 22, Chad Brown 18 and recent Eclipse Award winner Cox 14.

That totals 122 of the 326 nominees for the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 1, the Preakness (G1) on May 15 and the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 5.

For five trainers!

Pletcher is a two-time Derby and three-time Belmont winner, Baffert is a six-time Derby, seven-time Preakness winner, three-time Belmont winner and two-time Triple Crown winner.

Asmussen is a two-time Preakness and one-time Belmont winner; Brown has a Preakness win; and Cox is looking for his first win in a Triple Crown race – and has several Derby contenders this year, including Essential Quality, the unbeaten 2-year-old champion male set for his 3-year-old debut in the Southwest Stakes (G3) on Feb. 15.

A year ago, and before the COVID-19 pandemic altered the Triple Crown schedule, Pletcher, Asmussen and Baffert were the top three in nominations, totaling 66 of 347 (19%). Brown had eight, and Cox five, and altogether the five had 79 of 347 for 22.7%).

We’re not exactly sure what this will mean as the Derby approaches, but it’ll be worth watching since the Triple Crown usually is a long, treacherous road filled with potholes.

Enough with the trainers, and on to the horses.

Cox and Baffert currently have the leading Derby contenders that are Triple Crown-nominated: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Essential Quality and

Smarty Jones winner Caddo River for Cox; and Sham Stakes (G3) winner Life is Good; Robert B. Lewis (G3) winner Medina Spirit for Baffert.

The early nomination phase closed on Jan. 23, and the list of nominees was released on Thursday (Feb. 4) by Churchill Downs, home of the Derby.

Godolphin led all individual owners with 11 nominees, including Essential Quality. Brad Kelley’s famed Calumet Farm was next with 10 nominees.

Thirteen fillies were nominated, including 2-year-old champion Vequist, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Ashland (G1) winner Simply Ravishing. Five horses nominated are based in Japan.

The early nominations were 21 fewer than 2020, a dip of 6.1%. A total of 42 stakes winners were nominated. A $600 fee is charged for early nomination; it will cost $6,000 for the next nomination period that closes March 29; and any horse not nominated could become eligible with a supplemental payment — $200,000 for the Derby, $100,000 for the Preakness and $50,000 for the Belmont.

Richard Rosenblatt

Over the years while working at The Associated Press, Rich Rosenblatt became a familiar name to legions of the horse racing fans and industry insiders with his award-winning articles on horse racing and his stories from the backstretch.

In addition to being an astute observer of sports, Rosenblatt is the co-author of The All-American Chili Cookbook. His work has been seen in just about every publication in the world, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time Magazine.