Amoss, Garcia Tie Atop Indiana Grand Trainer Standings

It was a fight to the finish between two of Indiana Grand's most accomplished trainers. At the conclusion of the 120-day meet Wednesday, Nov. 7, they could not be separated. Tom Amoss and Genaro Garcia each ended the season with 45 wins to be named 2018 Leading Trainer at Indiana Grand.

Garcia earned his second straight title at Indiana Grand, also picking up the honor in 2017. A native of Mexico, Garcia had 297 starters and maintained a 41 percent in the money average. Horses from the Garcia Stable earned in excess of $905,580. The Garcia trained Discreet Beauty won the $100,000 City of Anderson Stakes and the most consistent performer out of the barn was Wills Defence, who won five of his 10 starts at Indiana Grand.

"I'm really happy to have won the title this year and I want to say thank you to the owners and Indiana Grand," said Garcia, who now resides in Greenwood, Ind. "All of my two-year-olds did really well this year, and I was so glad to see that. It was exciting to see how they went through the whole process from breaking them to seeing them get to the track and race so well this year."

With his 45 wins from 2018, Garcia moves into the top 10 on the list of all-time leading trainers at Indiana Grand. He now has 210 victories with purse earnings of more than $4.3 million in purse earnings.

Joining Garcia atop the trainer standings is Tom Amoss, who picked up his sixth leading trainer title in the past eight years. A native of Louisiana, Amoss won titles from 2011 - 2014 and was back on top of the standings in 2016. Horses from his barn in 2018 were tough, winning 45 of 136 starts for a 33 percent win average and a 61 percent top three average. A total of $961,748 was accumulated by Amoss-trained horses for 2018. Amoss, who also has a string of horses based in Kentucky, was unable to attend the final day of racing. However, he was available by phone to accept his training title.

"Winning a title is an honor for the stable and a reflection on all the people who work with us, especially the owners who entrust us with their horses," said Amoss. "I'm not there as often as I'd like, but every time I go, the casual fans are so nice and enthusiastic. Indiana Grand is always a breath of fresh air when I visit."

Amoss holds numerous track records for training at Indiana Grand including most money earned by a trainer in one season ($1,548,715 in 2013); most wins in one season by a trainer (81 - 2013); and most training titles (6). He celebrated his 3,500th career win at the track in 2017 and is currently ranked 29th on the list of all trainers in North America for wins in 2018. Amoss has the most accumulated purse money for trainers in the history of the track with in excess of $7.2 million. He is currently ranked second on the list of all-time leading trainers at Indiana Grand with 315 wins behind Gary Patrick, who has 361, showing the staying power of his horses stabled in Indiana over the past eight years.

The 16th season of Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horse racing concluded Wednesday, Nov. 7. Racing will resume in April 2019 with dates expected to be released by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission in December 2018.