The legendary Dr O’Brien also won the Gloucester Hurdle, the modern-day Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, eight times in five years. Okay, there were divides then, but he won eight of the 10 divisions. Vincent O’Brien won the Aintree Grand National three times on the spin in the 1950s, with three different horses. Tom Dreaper won the Irish Grand National seven times in a row, from 1960 to 1966 inclusive. You suspect that the reduction in the number of runners in the Grand National this season from 40 to 34 has been the catalyst for the airing of the suggestion, but you need to be careful of knee-jerk reactions. We Rank The Best Horse Racing Betting Sites If the BHA goes ahead and runs with their recently mooted idea to restrict the number of runners that any one trainer can have in certain races to four, that would be a new departure. You have to think through the ramifications, the long-term consequences as well as the short-term goals.Īnd you need to consider the method by which they will be implemented, with watertight rules, not easily circumventable. Protectionist measures, by definition, if they work, create a situation that deviates from the point of equilibrium at which things can rest easily. You need to be careful when you start to think about the introduction of restrictions.