Grand National-winning trainer Dr. Richard Newland has claimed that a potential way to save British horse racing from the doldrums in which it finds itself is to not allow Irish-trained runners in the UK and make them non-eligible for the majority of their races.
Cheltenham has finished for another year, and once again, the Irish have come, seen, and conquered British soil.
Willie Mullins has once again produced a number of winners at the festival, and this is expected to continue at the Grand National and Aintree in the coming weeks.
There was a time when Ireland's jockeys, trainers, and punters could only dream of a winner, but today that's not the case, and it's Britain's turn to be hopeful about dominance in the industry.
A lot has been said about Britain's current malaise in the sport, and some have even questioned if the Irish chokehold is healthy for it. However, Dr. Richard Newland has claimed that an option to curtail the slide would limit owners to a maximum of four runners in the race.
"As Julie Harrington has indicated, it is essential we address this Irish dominance, and we may have to take a step back to facilitate this," said Newland to Racing TV
"When the BHA suggested they would consider limiting the Grand National entries to four runners per trainer, I was the first person to jump up and down in support of this initiative.
"I felt this was the best thing that they had done in a long time, but we knew it would never come to pass.
"Gordon Elliot could run 14 horses in the National this year, and 28 of the field of 34 runners could be Irish. Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have more entries in our Grand National combined than the whole of the UK."
Newland has also conjured up another sensational change to help British racing. He suggests that not allowing Irish-trained runners in the UK and making them non-eligible for the majority of our races would help the bigger UK owners and trainers reverse the trend.
"British racing can’t hide from this. We have a problem and we have got to do something about it."
Dr Richard Newland: Jumps racing in Britain is in crisis 👇
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 19, 2024
"While we are on the subject, why not limit owners to a maximum of four runners in the race?" he added.
"The bottom line is, as Julie has said, we have to sort this problem out.
"One option would be to not allow Irish-trained runners in the UK and make them non-eligible for the majority of our races.
"For a while, we might have to reduce the number of races in the UK so that the field sizes go up.
"If they make Irish-trained horses ineligible, the bigger UK owners would return to having their horses trained by UK trainers, and the trend would start reversing.
"Personally, I would have that blanket for all races. But if we are to allow them to race in the UK once a year, maybe let that be at the Cheltenham Festival, with perhaps one runner allowed per trainer in each race—not coming over every Saturday and winning everything."
Finally, Newland claims that maybe Horse Racing Ireland should contribute £10 million to UK horse racing.
He also believes these options are not popular, but something has to give if British horse racing wants to save itself.
"In the old days, it was like that, with leading Irish and UK horses generally meeting only once a year for a showdown at the Cheltenham Festival.
"Julie is rightly preoccupied with the lack of prize money for UK owners and trainers. Perhaps it is time for Horse Racing Ireland to contribute £10 million to UK horse racing prize money, as that is the amount connections of Irish horses are likely to receive from UK jump races this year.
"All the BHA can do is control its own racing. They can do that by saying the Irish are not eligible to run in UK jump races or by charging much higher entry fees for international horses to address the funding issue.
"These are only ideas and will not be popular with everyone. But we clearly need to discuss amongst UK racing professionals how the Irish dominance in UK National Hunt racing can be redressed, and I welcome the BHA leading that debate.
"In flat racing, the Irish are not allowed to compete in our lower-grade races because there is already too much domestic demand. So, it is in the BHA’s control to change things. But they have previously taken the view in jump racing that it is a benefit for the Irish to come over to the UK, but it isn’t really, and it is great that they are now recognising this."
