First months stats are in

[cliff]

And some interesting results:

Trainer Stats 01/02/09 - 01/31/09 minimum 25 starts
Listed in USTR order with primary driver

Trainer	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR	Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USDR
Kent Sherman	29	9	33%	.420	Ryan Stahl	29	9	33%	.420
Ryan Angus	38	11	29%	.404	Ryan Angus	22	5	23%	.318
Sarah Young	29	6	21%	.391	Wyatt Irvine	16	4	25%	.458
Calvin Hollar	36	8	22%	.349	Robin Miller	17	2	12%	.261
John G Wengerd	30	7	23%	.330	Matt Kakaley	16	6	38%	.410
Frank Scarl	31	5	16%	.333	Kurt Sugg	23	3	13%	.314
Kevin Ehrhardt	49	10	22%	.306	Andy Shetler	27	5	19%	.243
Keith Kash Jr	62	9	15%	.289	Keith Kash Jr	40	5	13%	.231
Rick Mapes	30	5	17%	.285	Joey Mapes	30	5	17%	.285
Ken Koch	41	5	12%	.276	Aaron Merriman	16	3	19%	.451
Brian Loney	73	13	18%	.266	Aaron Merriman	28	10	36%	.504
John Oliverio	31	3	10%	.265	Elliott Deaton	14	1	7%	.341
Andy Shetler	26	3	12%	.231	Andy Shetler	26	3	12%	.231
Pat Melloy Jr	37	4	11%	.228	Pat Melloy Jr	21	1	5%	.116
Randy Cassavaugh	30	3	10%	.226	J D Wengerd	17	1	6%	.229
Clair Umholtz	54	6	11%	.214	none	-	-	-	-
Lanny Merriman	30	4	13%	.193	Lanny Merriman	17	0	0%	.052
					Aaron Merriman	13	4	31%	.376
Jodi Schillaci	69	5	7%	.190	Aaron Merriman	48	4	8%	.215
John Perrin	54	3	6%	.179	Matt Kakaley	28	2	7%	.242
Ray Crawford	30	3	10%	.170	Elliott Deaton	10	0	0%	.089

I'll open this up for discussion, remembering that one month does not a season make. For example, I don't think Jodi Schillaci has forgotten how to train. Nevertheless, there are some compelling trainer/driver combos that jump out at you: Loney/Merriman, Koch/Merriman, Sherman/Stahl, John G Wengerd/Kakaley, Young/Wyatt Irvine, and even Scarl/Sugg (on the board a whole heck of a lot. Also it's easy to see how to play the Lanny Merriman barn depending on whether farther or son is driving. Of course we already knew that, but the stats are striking nevertheless. I have some other interesting stuff to post when time permits, but we can start by digesting this. Also, I have the trainer/driver stats for all Northfield's tandems. If anyone has one they're interested in, just ask.

[longshotmike]

Ryan Angus giving up the reigns ha helped his barn considerably.

[cliff]

Who is currently doing the best job driving trotters? Maybe some surprises here:

Trotter Driver Stats 01/02/09 - 02/04/09 minimum 10 starts
Listed in USDR order

Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USDR
Wyatt Irvine	31	10	32%	.423
Elliott Deaton	12	2	17%	.398
Aaron Merriman	58	11	19%	.366
Ken Koch	10	2	20%	.311
Ryan Stahl	43	7	16%	.282
Frank Harris	12	2	17%	.269
J D Wengerd	46	7	15%	.229
Andy Shetler	36	5	14%	.216
Matt Kakaley	51	8	16%	.214
Kurt Sugg	37	3	8%	.213
Sam Schillaci	11	1	9%	.202
Keith Kash Jr	28	2	7%	.183
Robin Miller	31	1	3%	.183
William Irvine	10	1	10%	.167
John G Wengerd	10	1	10%	.167
Don Mc Kirgan	26	2	8%	.158
Charles Smith Jr	14	0	0%	.040
Clair Umholtz	12	0	0%	.028

[cliff]

Title this: Why do these trainers driver their own horses?

Listed below are trainers records when they driver their own stock versus when they turn the driving chores over to others. 01/02/09 to 02/07/09 inclusive

Trainer/Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR
Ryan Angus	25	5	20%	.307
all other drivers	21	7	33%	.503
Total	46	12	26%	.396

Trainer/Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR
Crist Hershberger	13	0	0%	.068
all other drivers	17	5	29%	.477
Total	30	5	17%	.300

Trainer/Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR
Pat Melloy	30	1	3%	.081
all other drivers	20	4	20%	.350
Total	50	5	10%	.189

Trainer/Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR
Lanny Merriman	22	0	0%	.040
Aaron Merriman	16	4	25%	.306
Total	38	4	11%	.152

Trainer/Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	USTR
John G Wengerd	11	1	9%	.152
all other drivers	26	6	23%	.329
Total	37	7	19%	.276

Ryan Angus has some success driving his own horses, whereas the others might be better off concentrating on training. They all have some pretty good horses if they are given a chance to succeed with a top catch driver at the reins. The handicapping angle here is pretty obvious.

It should also be noted that in the case of the Merrimans, Lanny always lists Aaron as the driver. If Aaron has a choice and chooses another horse, then Lanny drives his own. The figures would be even more lopsided if Aaron had a choice in every race. The proven angle here is, if Aaron has a choice and chooses his dad's horse, that horse is on the board almost 100% of the time.

[gtapp]

Looking forward to an update. Especially interested in driver stat changes on the trotters.

[cliff]

I'm actually in the process of redoing my database, so I'm not able to update the stats in total. However what you are asking is easy, so here we go:

Trotter Driver Stats 01/02/09 - 03/07/09 minimum 18 starts
Listed in UDRS order

Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	UDRS
Aaron Merriman	104	21	20%	.371
Wyatt Irvine	68	14	21%	.330
Ryan Stahl	85	16	19%	.323
Elliott Deaton	29	4	14%	.310
Matt Kakaley	99	19	19%	.300
J D Wengerd	61	10	16%	.255
Ken Koch	24	3	13%	.255
Don Mc Kirgan	52	9	17%	.254
Andy Shetler	58	10	17%	.241
Sam Schillaci	18	2	11%	.216
Kurt Sugg	79	9	11%	.203
Frank Harris	42	3	7%	.185
Robin Miller	64	3	5%	.170
Keith Kash Jr	61	3	5%	.148
William Irvine	22	1	5%	.101
Charles Smith Jr	23	0	0%	.024
Clair Umholtz	21	0	0%	.016

Keep in mind the stats are at least partially indicative of the quality of stock they have the opportunity to drive.

[gtapp]

Cliff

Any updated stats for the trotter drivers. last one was about Mar. Especially if there are so many trot races tonight.

[cliff]

As you wish...not much has changed:

Trotter Driver Stats 01/02/09 - 06/06/09 minimum 25 starts

Listed in UDRS order

Driver	Starts	Wins	Winning%	UDRS
Aaron Merriman	237	50	21%	.378
Ryan Stahl	192	40	21%	.343
Matt Kakaley	204	38	19%	.313
Wyatt Irvine	153	30	22%	.297
Ken Koch	61	9	15%	.266
J D Wengerd	130	17	13%	.223
Don Mc Kirgan	115	15	13%	.219
Kurt Sugg	200	21	11%	.213
Sam Schillaci	32	3	9%	.181
Robin Miller	169	10	6%	.179
William Irvine	64	5	8%	.167
Keith Kash Jr	128	8	6%	.161
Frank Harris	100	6	6%	.144
John G Wengerd	25	1	4%	.116
Charles Smith Jr	49	0	0%	.036
Clair Umholtz	35	0	0%	.019
Jimmy Smith	12	3	25%	.463

Also included Jimmy Smith since he's racing tonight.