It was an incredible week of racing throughout North America with a total of 53 stakes races run in the U.S. and Canada, including 12 graded stakes. Opening weekend at Del Mar and the biggest week of racing for the year at Monmouth Park, along with three graded stakes at Saratoga, brought significant changes to the Equibase leaderboard based on North American earnings in all divisions. For this article, we’ll focus on a pair of standout performances at Monmouth and a valiant result at Del Mar that could have implications for the 3-year-old and older male divisions in the months ahead.

Sent off at odds of 28-1, Baby Vino became the 59^th winner of the NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes and also earned a berth in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Oct. 31. Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. and trainer Lindsay Schultz both earned their first career Grade 1 victories in the race and Schultz became the first female in history to win the Haskell.

Baby Vino, a 3-year-old Vino Rosso colt, won Monmouth’s Pegasus Stakes by 10 ¾ lengths prior to the Haskell. The budding fan favorite has come into his own this spring and summer, moving into the top 10 among 3-year-old males with $774,916 in 2026 earnings – good for ninth place – and 19^th overall. With his first graded stakes victory, Baby Vino now sports a 116 Equibase Rating, tied with both Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets winner Golden Tempo and Preakness Stakes winner and Haskell runner-up Napoleon Solo. (The Equibase Rating provides a performance score based on race outcomes and measurable factors such as speed, strength of race, track conditions and trip factors, and is aligned with the National American Rating Committee for horses who compete in stakes races.)

Another highlight at Monmouth Park over the weekend came courtesy of Knightsbridge, who dominated the Monmouth Cup Stakes by 10 ¼ lengths in his first career try racing around two turns. Knightsbridge, a Godolphin homebred by Nyquist, is now 3-for-3 in Grade 3 stakes races in 2026, and he also sports a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap. Knightsbridge now has $633,610 in earnings as a 4-year-old, moving him into ninth among older males and 33^rd overall. His Equibase Rating jumped two points to a 113 as well.

Journalism and jockey Umberto Rispoli. (BENOIT photo)

Arguably the most impressive performance in North America last week came from Journalism, who was left at the starting gate in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar and then circled the field with a last-to-first rally to win by three quarters of a length. Journalism earned a career-best 112 Equibase Speed Figure for the win, his 13^th consecutive race with a triple-digit speed figure. The San Diego was Journalism’s first win since he took last year’s Haskell following a Triple Crown gauntlet where he finished second in the Kentucky Derby, first in the Preakness Stakes, and second in the Belmont Stakes. With the San Diego win, Journalism has elevated back up to a 118 Equibase Rating. He has $421,875 in 2026 earnings, good for 19^th in the older male division and 65^th overall.

Jose Ortiz remains on top of the jockey standings for the second consecutive week, surpassing $23 million in 2026 North American earnings. His brother Irad Ortiz Jr. remains second with $22,859,438 while Flavien Prat continues to steadily shorten the lead. Prat led all jockeys for the second straight week by earnings with $1,247,228, winning at a 30% clip and finishing in the top three in 56% of his races. On Saturday, Prat had a four-win day at Monmouth Park, three of them in graded stakes, and he became the third jockey this year to surpass $21 million in 2026 earnings.

The top 10 trainers remain the same for the second consecutive week with Brad Cox still holding a commanding lead with $17,434,600 in 2026 earnings, more than $2 million over Steve Asmussen in second. Chad Brown led all trainers last week by earnings with $1,451,660 but remains fourth behind Mark Casse.

North American leaders lists for horses, jockeys, trainers and owners are available on equibase.com and you can filter the data to view by a wide variety of categories including age, sex, surface and race type.