Trainer of the Year

[parsixfarms]

I know that it's only August 3, but we were having a discussion about the Eclipse awards yesterday during which the following question was posed: who should win the Eclipse for trainer if the racing season were to end today?

I advocated for Jonathan Sheppard. If the season were to end today, he'd likely be the trainer of two champions, Forever Together and Informed Decision, and has done excellent work with Just As Well. He's winning at a better than 20% clip, and given the size of his outfit, what he has accomplished so far this year is remarkable.

It seems to me that the way the media has voted this award in recent years, you need to have a huge stable to be capable of winning the award. There are only about 5 or 6 stables large enough and with enough quality horses to even have a chance (i.e., Asmussen, Pletcher, Frankel, McLaughlin, Mott, Baffert). Any thoughts?