He has pushed back against the categorization, resisting being pigeonholed, but Chad Brown still is widely known as a turf trainer. This is not a bad thing! The label might not be fair, but if it’s applied, it comes with the extremely important detail that Chad Brown is North America’s best turf trainer.

Todd Pletcher topped all trainers during 2021 with 35 graded stakes wins, 25 on dirt, 10 on turf.

Bob Baffert won 33 graded stakes during 2021, 32 on dirt, one on turf.

Brown equaled Baffert’s total of 33, 27 graded turf stakes, just six on dirt.

Trainer Brad Cox and owner-breeder Godolphin seem poised for a big night at next month’s Eclipse Awards based on the finalists in 16 divisions that were announced Saturday morning on TVG.

Cox, the defending training champion, is a finalist in that category again. He trains Knicks Go, the overwhelming favorite to be named both Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male, as well as Essential Quality, the Godolphin homebred who is favored to take down the 3-year-old male title.

Jessica Pyfer is coming off an outstanding rookie season in Southern California, and for leading all North American-based apprentices in mount earnings last year is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2021.

Pyfer also ranked second in wins. She had 56 from 535 starts through the end of her apprentice allowance on Nov. 13, and her mounts earned a collective $2,738,863.

Irad Ortiz Jr. won five races on the New Year’s Day card at Gulfstream Park and it was a harbinger of another big year in 2021 for the three-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey, who is a finalist again this year.

Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Farm, which has developed a star-studded broodmare band that is a major force in the commercial arena and on the racetrack, is seeking its first Eclipse Award as a finalist for the outstanding breeder of 2021.

Calumet Farm, under the stewardship of Brad Kelley, continued to add to its history by again finishing near the top of the statistical leaderboards in 2021. Calumet led all individual breeders by earnings in 2019 and 2020, according to Equibase statistics. The farm finished second in 2021, with breeder earnings of $16,127,515. The farm also finished fifth by individual owner earnings.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s international Godolphin operation is a finalist for both the Eclipse Award for outstanding owner and breeder, looking to add more hardware to its already glittering case. The operation won the Eclipse as outstanding owner in 2009, 2012, and 2020. It also, under its Darley name, tied with Lael Stable in the voting for 2006. It won the Eclipse for outstanding breeder in 2012 under the Darley name.

Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables had another outstanding year in 2021, finishing second to the powerhouse Godolphin operation by North American earnings and putting it in position to chase another Eclipse Award.

Juddmonte Farms, and the international Thoroughbred bloodstock industry at large, experienced a monumental loss in early 2021 with the death of the farm’s founder Prince Khalid bin Abdullah at age 83. Juddmonte continued its high-end operations and honored the founder’s legacy by again finishing as one of the standout owners of 2021, thanks to its homebred program. Abdullah’s sons and grandsons have taken an interest in the Juddmonte program to continue its operations, while its affairs in the United States are managed by Garrett O’Rourke.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s international Godolphin operation had another banner year and is looking to add more hardware to its already glittering trophy case. Godolphin is a finalist for 2021 Eclipse Awards as both outstanding owner and breeder.

The operation won Eclipse Awards as outstanding owner in 2009, 2012, and 2020. It also, under its Darley name, tied with Lael Stables in the voting for outstanding owner of 2006. Godolphin, as Darley, won the Eclipse for outstanding breeder in 2012.