Four trainers winning 44% of all prize money in horse racing, research shows

Ken Foxe

A research paper showed that just four trainers were winning around 44 per cent of all the prize money on offer in horse racing.

The research said those four trainers were also the only ones to win a Grade One, the highest-level type of race, in the 2023 to 2024 season.

It said this domination was leading to “stronger yards moving further clear of their rivals in terms of facilities, resources, budget at sales, and extension, by results.”

The research was carried out as Horse Racing Ireland put in place plans to have sixty races each year where high-achieving trainers were excluded.

It said that Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Gavin Cromwell, and Henry de Bromhead were winning 35 per cent of all jump races held annually.

That compared unfavourably to just 20 per cent for the four top trainers in flat racing, according to the document. It said: “This shift is not a cycle, but a trend.”

The top jumps trainers were also scooping a growing proportion of prize money, claiming €13.7 million of €30.9 million on offer in 2023.

It said this was leading to “polarisation” within National Hunt racing and had the potential to damage the levels of interest and participation in the sport.

The document said that around sixty races should be set aside in 2025 for smaller yards to allow other “trainers to flourish.”

It said: “This should provide a select but meaningful quantity of races each month which trainers can target in order to build confidence with owners and allow their emerging flagship horses take their early steps towards competing at the top end of the … ladder.”

The research said the plan had been “meticulous” to ensure leading trainers continued to have ample opportunities for their horses.

However, it warned something had to be done to address the imbalance and for “retaining the competitiveness” of jumps racing.

The research also showed how the number of entries into jumps racing had dropped significantly over a fifteen-year period.

In 2008, there were around 64,000 entries but by 2023, this had fallen to just under 36,000.

For flat racing, the figure had stayed consistent at around 33,000, the document said.

It added: “The five-year average of races won by the top four [jumps] trainers is running at 35 per cent which is almost double that of 2008 (20 per cent) and considerably above the 2014 level of 24 per cent.”

The research said the proportion of prize money being won by the ‘Big Four’ was rising at an even faster rate.

“The 2008 champion trainer won 8 per cent of the races and 8 per cent of the prize money. By 2023 this moved to 16 per cent of all races and 24 per cent of prize money,” it said.

“The top four share in 2008 – which was 20 per cent of races and 21 per cent of prize money – is now 37 per cent of races won [and] 44 per cent of all prize money.”

Asked about the records, Horse Racing Ireland said they had nothing to add.