Godolphin, which campaigned 14 North American graded stakes winners, including four Breeders’ Cup winners, repeated as leading owner by earnings for 2022, and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., established single-season earnings and stakes wins records as the leading jockey according to final statistics released Jan. 3 by Equibase Company, the Thoroughbred industry’s official database for racing information. Chad Brown pulled away in the final weeks of the year to end up on top as the leading trainer by earnings, his first title since 2019.

The year-end compilations are distributed annually by Equibase and include results from Thoroughbred racing in North America from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022. Expanded North American racing leaders’ lists that include all trainers, jockeys, owners, and horses are available within the statistical section at equibase.com. These lists include the ability to look at leaders in a variety of categories, including age, sex, surface, graded races, foaling year for horses, and the inclusion of designated foreign races, such as the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup Presented by Emirates Airline.

Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Flightline, who won each of his three North American races by large margins, led all Thoroughbreds in North American earnings with $4,255,000. In addition to his 8 ¼-length win in the Classic, Flightline won the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes by 19 ¼ lengths and the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Stakes by six lengths. When including earnings from Dubai World Cup and Saudi Cup days, Country Grammer ended the year with earnings of $10,900,000 on the virtue of his Dubai World Cup win and Saudi World Cup second-place finish.

Completing the list of top 10 horses by North American earnings were Life Is Good with $2,882,500, Olympiad with $2,862,120, Epicenter with $2,810,000, Rich Strike with $2,470,200, Rebel’s Romance with $2,080,000, Malathaat with $2,055,675, Cyberknife with $2,012,520, Taiba with $1,956,200, and Nest with $1,768,050.

Some of the leading horses also were the top earners from their respective foal crops. The leading earners by foaling year from the past five years were Forte (by Violence, 2020 foal crop), Epicenter (by Not This Time, 2019),  Essential Quality (by Tapit, 2018), Authentic (by Into Mischief, 2017), and Knicks Go (by Paynter, 2016).

Forte (Keeneland/Coady Photography)

For the second consecutive year, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s Godolphin operation – totaling 88 North American wins from 438 starts – was a dominant force among owners in 2022 with earnings of $16,343,067, down from its single-season earnings record of $17.4 million set in 2021. Completing the list of top 10 owners by North American earnings in 2022 were Klaravich Stables, $9,438,582 (84 wins/336 starts); Peter Brant, $7,772,253 (54/183); Winchell Thoroughbreds, $5,661,750 (33/147); Juddmonte, $5,633,762 (38/144); End Zone Athletics, $4,904,429 (254/1,222); Stonestreet Stables, $4,819,200 (49/162); Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing, $4,255,000 (3/3); Lothenbach Stables (Bob Lothenbach), $4,142,340 (87/378); and D. J. Stable, $4,027,993 (34/228).

Brown sent out the winners of 243 races from 309 starters with 922 starts for earnings of $31,057,362 in 2022. Completing the list of top 10 trainers by North American earnings were Todd Pletcher, $30,482,937 (223 wins/342 starters/1,020 starts); Steven Asmussen, $28,579,134 (382/594/2,155); Brad Cox, $23,851,590 (222/326/916); William Mott, $16,848,240 (102/195/605); Michael Maker, $16,508,941 (209/370/1,215); Mark Casse, $15,486,420 (209/386/1,401); Philip D’Amato, $11,954,300 (125/175/612); Jamie Ness, $10,321,975 (326/252/1,253); and Christophe Clement, $10,319,052 (124/189/634).

Ortiz Jr. reached the winner’s circle 325 times from 1,363 mounts in 2022 in establishing a single-season earnings record of $37,075,772, eclipsing the previous record of $34.1 million he set in 2019. He also set a single-season record for stakes wins with 80 trips to the winner’s circle, breaking the former mark of 76 victories set in 2007 by the late Garrett Gomez. Ortiz Jr. was the leading jockey by earnings for three consecutive years (2018, 2019, and 2020) and finished second last year.

Rounding out the list of top 10 jockeys by North American earnings in 2022 were Flavien Prat, $29,832,252 (236 wins/1,013 starts); Joel Rosario, $29,250,139 (185/915); Tyler Gaffalione, $27,360,825 (1,491/266); Luis Saez, $24,339,905 (272/1,540); Jose Ortiz, $22,551,703 (214/1,189); Florent Geroux, $16,541,638 (125/791); Manuel Franco, $15,179,058 (185/1,140); Juan Hernandez, $15,018,565 (211/875); and John Velazquez, $13,529,798 (100/625).