Equibase Earnings Leaders: active Fall Stars weekend has a big impact

Fall racing gets underway with just over three weeks to go until 2025 Breeder’s cup. Sixteen “Win ​​and You’re In” Challenge Series races across North America headlined last weekend’s action, many of which took place during the three opening days of Keeneland’s Fall Meet called Fall Stars Weekend. Ultimately, several major changes took place in the divisions that ranked horses, jockeys, trainers and owners based on 2025 North American revenue.

In the owners division, Spendthrift Farm was an absolute powerhouse last week, moving to ninth on the 2025 list after recording six wins, including four stakes wins in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (Tommy Jo), Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (Ted Noffey), Chillingworth Stakes (Tamara) and Surfer Girl Stakes (Brave Deb). At Keeneland, two-year-old filly Tommy Jo won the Alcibiades via Percy’s Bar disqualification, while juvenile colt Ted Noffey easily took the Breeders’ Futurity. Both are sired by Spendthrift Farm’s flagship stallion, Into Mischief. On the Equibase leaderboards, Tommy Jo and Ted Noffey have moved into the top 100 of all racehorses in North America and are now tied for 70th^e in the rankings and third in their respective divisions for 2-year-olds with $617,963 in earnings.

Another highlight for Spendthrift was Tamara, the fourth foal out of Hall of Famer Beholder, who returned from an 11-month layoff to romp 3 ¾ lengths at the Chillingworth at Santa Anita Park in front of Hall of Fame connections, jockey Mike Smith and trainer Richard Mandella.

In the most expensive race of Keeneland’s Fall Meet, Rhetorical turned in a standout performance in his first start outside New York, capturing the $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes by three-quarters of a length while earning a career-best 120 Equibase Speed ​​Figure, the highest in North America last week. The win marked trainer Will Walden’s first Grade 1 victory of his career. The rhetoric is now at 45^e overall on the Equibase rankings and 18^e among older males with an income of $763,800 in 2025. He has earned an automatic berth in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF.

At 53 years old, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez continues to excel. Last week he made eight trips to the winner’s circle and recorded four stakes victories, three of which were graded. Velazquez also enjoyed a five-win day at Keeneland on Saturday. He finished the week with $1,617,011 in earnings and climbed to fifth place among North American jockeys in 2025 with $16,354,869 in earnings.

Despite trainers Todd Pletcher and Brendan Walsh having fantastic weekends, they remain fifth and ninth respectively on the Equibase leaderboard. Chad Brown was the only trainer to shake up the rankings, moving up one spot to third among all conditioners in North America, behind Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen, after amassing nearly $1.2 million in earnings last week.

North American leader lists for horses, jockeys, trainers and owners are available at equibase.com and you can filter the data to view it based on a wide variety of categories, including age, gender, area and breed type.