By Evan Hammonds (Bloodhorse)

Original Article – http://i.bloodhorse.com/daily-app/pdfs/BloodHorseDaily-20160314.pdf

Looking inside the numbers of the top 20 North American trainers by 2015 earnings, it is interesting to note New York-based trainer Linda Rice led the group by percentage of graded stakes wins per graded stakes starts.

Rice’s five graded wins came from 16 starts, good for a strike rate of 31%. Bob Baffert, trainer of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, was second at 28% (23 wins from 81 starts), and Ramon Preciado third with 25% graded stakes wins from starters (two wins from eight starts). Training leaders Todd Pletcher (21%) and Chad Brown (20%)—both with much larger stables— rounded out the top five.

The statistics come from a feature written by Bob Barry that appears in the MarketWatch section of the March 19 edition of Blood-Horse. Other features in the special section include additional statistics on the top 100 trainers of 2015, a review of the 2015 purses by track, and an analysis on a Thoroughbred’s age and performance.