Reigning Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox surpassed the record for stable earnings by a North American trainer in a calendar year Dec. 17 when five of his nine runners triumphed across the country.
According to Equibase statistics and charts, a Friday allowance optional claiming victory worth $60,000 from Rupp Racing's In Dreams at Oaklawn Park vaulted Cox past Chad Brown's single-season 2019 record of $31,112,144. With the conclusion of late Friday evening racing at Turfway Park and Remington Park, Cox's horses had made $31,292,701 by winning 259 races from 980 starts (26%).
Entering Dec. 18, with less than two weeks remaining in the year, Cox holds a lead over Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen by earnings in 2021, with the latter's horses having made $30,857,286 on a 447-for-2,371 mark. Asmussen is the winningest trainer in North American racing history.
Cox's horses have won 30 graded stakes races in 2021, including Godolphin's Essential Quality capturing the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go taking the $5.4 million Longines Breeder's Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar. Those two horses, like Cox, are contenders to win Eclipse Awards for 2021, with Knicks Go likely to capture Horse of the Year.
