Leading owner Simon Munir has voiced concern at reports the British Horseracing Authority could limit the number of runners an individual trainer can have in major handicaps in Britain.
A Racing Post report on Monday evening suggested the ruling body is consulting stakeholders to garner their views regarding the possibility of capping the amount of runners a trainer can declare in Class 1 or Class 2 handicaps to four.
If such a rule change was introduced, it would clearly have a major impact on the Randox Grand National at Aintree, as well as several handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival.
Munir, in partnership with Isaac Souede, has a large team in training across Ireland, England and France. They are regularly represented in big races at the major festivals and he told sportinglife.com: "Racing should be seeking to attract the best horses to races. I fail to see the relevance of who owns the horse or who trains the horse.
"With team Double Green, we rarely have four or more horses running in the same race but that is a derivative of what is best for the horse and where the horse has the best chance of winning. If we were worried about trainers having multiple runners in a race, then that would severely restrict our choice of trainers in the first place. We have won many races over the years where we are not necessarily first string of a particular trainer so it's not something we focus on.
"Surely the racing public and punters want to see the best horses competing in races irrespective of who owns the horse or who trains the horse? We run horses in Ireland, England and France where the programme book is open to us in all three countries, without any restrictions, which is how it should be.
"In my opinion protectionism, restrictions and quotas can only damage the sport they would only help those who are seeking to make races easier to win but otherwise I fail to see any benefits.
“On the contrary, I see many worrying potential issues such as a Double Green horse cannot run because he is a trainer's fifth string but above all and more importantly for the wider sport, a dilution of quality by effectively disqualifying horses before they have had a chance to run in a race because of who trains or owns them.”
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