Brown Earns Fourth Straight Outstanding Trainer Award

As Chad Brown received yet another accolade in a career filled with the kind of success that only a select group of trainers has experienced, his thoughts turned to a much different time in his life.

It was January 2015, and Brown was coming off a year in which he had won three Breeders' Cup races and compiled more than $15.3 million in earnings, the second-best figure in North America.

Todd Pletcher, a six-time Eclipse Award winner, topped the earnings list with $22.4 million but had failed to win a Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup race. Brown believed he was destined to take home his first Eclipse Award as the outstanding trainer.

Instead, Pletcher won for a seventh time.

"Everyone told me we would win the Eclipse Award, and when we didn't win, I was so disappointed for my team," Brown said. "After that, I thought we'd never win one."

Yet as disappointed as Brown felt five years ago, he can now look back and laugh about it. Not only did Brown win his first Eclipse Award as the top trainer in 2016, he has taken home the prize in each year since.

His latest award came when he was announced as the 2019 recipient of the industry's top prize for a trainer, putting him in the company of Pletcher, Laz Barrera, and his beloved mentor Bobby Frankel as the fourth trainer to win four straight Eclipse Awards.

"You never know what will happen in this sport," Brown said. "After wondering if we'd ever win an Eclipse Award, now we've done it four years in a row. Not knowing what the future has in store is the great thing about sports, particularly this one."

Brown again won three Breeders' Cup races in 2019, but putting him over the top with voters was training Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar and becoming the first trainer to top $30 million in annual North American earnings with $31,112,144 and 20 grade 1 wins among his 222 victories.

"It's a great honor for my team, my clients, and the horses who gave us so many great, record-breaking performances. It was an amazing year," the 41-year-old said. "I feel an enormous sense of appreciation and accomplishment for everyone who contributed to it. At the end of the day, it's about taking care of your horses, taking care of your clients, taking care of your team, and letting everything come together."