Brown, Ortiz, Dubb top categories
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chad Brown, Jose Ortiz, and Michael Dubb were the dominant connections on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2016.
Brown was the leading trainer at NYRA tracks with 135 winners and $15,041,606 in purse earnings. It was the second straight year that Brown was the leading trainer at NYRA tracks; he won 131 races in 2015. Rudy Rodriguez finished second in wins last year with 127 and was followed by Todd Pletcher (112), Linda Rice (91), and David Jacobson (60).
Jose Ortiz led the nation in wins with 351, and 319 of those came on the NYRA circuit, where Ortiz won the Aqueduct winter, spring and fall titles as well as Belmont spring and Saratoga. Ortiz’s 319 wins were 24 more than his brother Irad Ortiz Jr. had. Irad did lead all riders on this circuit in purse money won with $21,370,744, $1.3 million more than Jose.
Rounding out the top five in wins were Manny Franco (191), Javier Castellano (162), and Kendrick Carmouche (134).
Dubb, who owns horses with various partners, led all owners in wins with 78. Jacobson (43) was second, followed by Midwest Thoroughbreds (40) and Klaravich Stables and Chester and Mary Broman with 36 each.