Laurel Park: Alternative trainer stats through March 7
Miss Inclusive won the Maryland Racing Media Stakes for trainer John Servis. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
by Frank Vespe
Through early March, there’s an easy answer to the question of which trainer is having the best season to date at Laurel Park under our rating system: John Servis, and it’s not close.
Servis, based at Parx Racing, has thrived in limited opportunities at Laurel Park and has 335.00 points. That gives him a 104-point bulge over Hugh McMahon, who has 230.94. For comparison purposes, the top nine trainers at Charles Town are all within less than 104 points of each other.
Our ratings number combines wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and $2 wagering return on investment. It thus values trainers who win frequently in big races, as well as those who can hit with a solid percentage of runners at square odds. The top trainer in each category receives 100 points, and thus a trainer who led a colony in all four categories would earn a perfect score of 400.
We applied this metric to every trainer at Laurel Park who has made at least 15 starts and won at least once. That leaves off several trainers who have won between one and three races and one trainer, Horacio DePaz, who has five wins from nine starters to date.
Servis leads the colony in three of four categories considered in our rankings. He has the top overall win percentage, having hit with seven of 18 runners for a strike rate of 38.89 percent. His earnings per start is off the chart, at $25,798 — roughly triple his nearest competitor. And his wagering return on investment of $4.62 is also tops.
Servis’ seven winners include Ms. Locust Point, who has won a pair of stakes, among them the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie, and Maryland Racing Media Stakes winner Miss Inclusive.
McMahon earns the second spot on the standings by scoring well in all four categories, although he does not lead in any of them. He is third in the standings in three categories: wins, with 12; win percentage, with 29.27 percent; and $2 wagering return on investment ($3.32). He is also seventh in earnings per start.
Meet wins leader Claudio Gonzalez is third in the rankings with 218.65 points. His 20 wins are six more than any other trainer has achieved thus far. He is also seventh in win percentage (22.99 percent) and sixth in earnings per start ($6,759).
As they did in our first rankings, Dale Capuano (202.15 points) and Kieron Magee (182.63) round out the top five.
The rankings include all races run through March 7, 2018.
LAUREL PARK TRAINER RANKINGS
RANK | TRAINER | RATINGS POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Servis John C | 335.00 | 7 | 38.89% | $25,798 | $4.62 |
| 2 | McMahon Hugh I | 230.94 | 12 | 29.27% | $6,144 | $3.32 |
| 3 | Gonzalez Claudio A | 218.65 | 20 | 22.99% | $6,759 | $1.54 |
| 4 | Capuano Dale | 202.15 | 11 | 31.43% | $5,834 | $2.02 |
| 5 | Magee Kieron | 186.63 | 14 | 24.14% | $5,252 | $1.58 |
| 6 | Farrior Anthony | 177.82 | 6 | 20.69% | $5,536 | $3.38 |
| 7 | Keefe Timothy L | 176.80 | 7 | 24.14% | $8,396 | $2.18 |
| 8 | Smith Hamilton A | 163.34 | 7 | 23.33% | $7,580 | $1.80 |
| 9 | Trombetta Michael J | 155.99 | 8 | 19.05% | $8,242 | $1.62 |
| 10 | Decker Kenneth | 139.39 | 6 | 14.29% | $6,123 | $2.26 |
| 11 | Lynch Cathal A | 134.89 | 7 | 17.95% | $4,818 | $1.62 |
| 12 | Capuano Gary | 125.96 | 4 | 16.67% | $5,447 | $1.94 |
| 13 | Potts Wayne | 125.76 | 5 | 20.00% | $3,345 | $1.68 |
| 14 | Lake Scott A | 117.07 | 8 | 16.33% | $3,134 | $1.06 |
| 15 | Maldonado Jonathan | 116.25 | 6 | 17.14% | $3,842 | $1.26 |
| 16 | Brooks Gerald E | 112.85 | 4 | 12.12% | $3,404 | $2.24 |
| 17 | Ness Jamie | 109.33 | 7 | 14.58% | $3,582 | $1.06 |
| 18 | Motion H Graham | 108.68 | 3 | 15.79% | $7,105 | $1.18 |
| 19 | Cartagena Keisy | 108.61 | 2 | 12.50% | $2,517 | $2.62 |
| 20 | Eubanks Annette M | 103.17 | 2 | 10.00% | $3,218 | $2.54 |
| 21 | Allen III A Ferris | 100.23 | 5 | 14.29% | $4,793 | $0.92 |
| 22 | Schoenthal Phil | 96.17 | 4 | 15.38% | $4,531 | $0.88 |
| 23 | Corrales Jose | 93.50 | 6 | 9.23% | $5,455 | $0.86 |
| 24 | Gaudet Lacey | 91.84 | 4 | 10.81% | $4,102 | $1.30 |
| 25 | Eppler Mary E | 83.91 | 3 | 13.64% | $3,707 | $0.90 |
| 26 | Dilodovico Damon R | 68.04 | 2 | 10.53% | $4,864 | $0.56 |
| 27 | Houghton Dove P | 44.03 | 1 | 6.25% | $2,685 | $0.58 |
| 28 | Robb John J | 43.92 | 2 | 5.41% | $2,820 | $0.42 |
| 29 | Worton Dorothy E | 38.09 | 1 | 4.17% | $2,198 | $0.64 |
| 30 | Mancilla Carlos A | 33.30 | 1 | 4.17% | $2,414 | $0.38 |
Hugh McMahon confuses me. He has won 440 races over the last 5 years and hits the board 50% of the time.He wins close to 20% of his races year after year.When I try and beat him, he gets me. When I bet on his horses, you guessed it, it’s the 80% he doesn’t win.
McMahon wins more on the dirt then turf(21%winner, 54%i.t.m,dirt; 14% winner , 40%,i.t.m turf) .But one of his most profitable R.O.i’s is bringing back turf runners after 180 day break.(29-18,in-the-money,return on investment,$5.83)