Number of Active Trainers Declines, Median Purse Earnings Edge Up

[Wandering Eyes]

The number of Thoroughbred trainers who started at least one horse in North America declined in 2024, dipping from 4,058 in 2023 to 3,886 in 2024, a reduction of 4.2%.

The slippage is largely in step with the fall-off of the annual foal crop and the closure of racetracks across the continent. Using year-end historical statistics posted on Equibase to make comparisons, the number of North American trainers has dropped 21.5% from five years ago, when 4,955 conditioners were active in 2019. Ten years ago, in 2014, there were 6,262 trainers, or 37.9% more than in 2024. Going back 20 years, the current number of trainers has plunged 57.8% from 9,210 in 2004. In 2024, there were 276 trainers (7.1% of the 3,886 total) who earned at least $1 million in purses.

Compared to previous years, the number of trainers over the million mark was 283 in 2023; 239 in 2019; 236 in 2014, and 219 in 2004.

At the opposite end of the scale, 2,315 trainers in 2024 (59.5% of the total) did not earn at least $100,000 in purses. The 2023 percentage for that earnings cutoff was close, at 60.2%.

The median amount of earnings tells a slightly different story, with that number edging up compared to previous years, even when adjusted for inflation. In 2024, the median level of earnings for North American trainers was $61,289 (so exactly half of the 3,886 conditioners were above that level, half below it).

The historical median level of trainer earnings is as follows, with the first number representing the actual dollar amount, and the figure in parenthesis adjusted for inflation, according to the United States Bureau of Labor's consumer price index inflation calculator:

• 2023-$58,807 ($60,483)
• 2019-$40,567 ($49,805)
• 2014-$29,816 ($40,060)
• 2004-$19,835 ($32,883)

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