West Point, McLaughlin split

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Linny

The point was that ROI and winning percentage don't correspond. Unless an owner is a big bettor, ROI takes a back seat to wins.

ROI is without question a much better gauge of how skilled a trainer is than win percentage. It's not even remotely close. But If a trainers reputation becomes too strong it becomes harder to keep the ROI up. If a trainer is not respected, it becomes easier to keep it up.

You are right that owners favor win percentage and virtually all have next to no understanding of ROI. Which is why win percentage becomes a far more important gauge for trainers. Guys like Jamie Ness can win at 32% and still have one of the absolute best ROI's in the land.

It's not just trainers ... a jockey agent should carefully pick and choose to manage his win percentage. Even if it means just riding two or three races a week .. it's better than going out there on 10/1's and 15/1's and killing your riders percentages.