After a year away, Chad Brown returned to the top spot on the list of leading trainers by North American earnings in 2024.
Horses trained by Brown earned $30,866,710 in 2024—the third time he has surpassed $30 million in purse earnings since 2019. It's the sixth time since 2016 that Brown has topped the North American earnings list, as his horses posted a record of 211-160-130 from 925 starts. Those 211 wins ranked seventh in North America for the season.
Brown was paced by 3-year-old Sierra Leone, who led all runners in 2024 North American earnings at $5,911,250. Sierra Leone just missed supplying Brown with his first Kentucky Derby (G1) win when second by a nose to Mystik Dan but he would not be denied in the fall, topping older rivals to win North America's most lucrative race, the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
"I'm just so proud of the horse," Brown said after the Breeders' Cup Classic. "To lose the Kentucky Derby by a nose—for a trainer, horse, connections, jockey—is about as heartbreaking a loss as you can have in this game of horse racing. For him to come out of that race and a grueling Triple Crown trail and show so much physical and mental constitution, consistency, and soundness to last the whole year ... and get to the winner's circle today; all the credit goes to the horse. He's just a remarkable horse in soundness, mind, and talent."
Full List of 2024 Leading Trainers by North American Earnings
Other grade 1 winners for Brown in 2024 include: Chancer McPatrick, Gina Romantica, Carl Spackler, Domestic Product , Raging Sea, Ways and Means, Whitebeam, Randomized, Chili Flag, Program Trading, and Beaute Cachee.
Rounding out the top five in earnings were: Steve Asmussen, $29,338,851; Brad Cox, $28,301,397; Todd Pletcher, $19,901,016; and Mark Casse, $17,721,580.
Asmussen led the way with 407 wins in North America. It's the 15th time that the Racing Hall of Famer has finished atop the wins list as he added to his record career total, which through Jan. 7, 2025, stood at 10,761.
Grade 1 winners in 2024 for Asmussen include Gun Pilot , Cogburn , and Society.
Rounding out the top five trainers by North American wins are Jamie Ness, 364; Saffie Joseph Jr., 264; Cox, 243; and Casse, 231.
The leading trainer by win percentage in 2024 North American races (at least 100 starts), is Puerto Rico-based Edwin Diaz Jr., who posted a 143-77-57 record from 383 starts—good for a 37% win rate. The leading trainer by win percentage in North American races (25 or more starts) is Midwest-based Jason Wise at 55% behind a 18-8-3 record from 33 starts.
The finalists for this year's Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer are Brown, who won four previous times; Cox, who has earned two accolades, and Kenny McPeek, looking for his first win in the category. McPeek is the trainer of Mystik Dan as well as multiple grade 1-winner Thorpedo Anna, who is a lock for champion 3-year-old filly and a strong contender for Horse of the Year.
