Are some trainers more adept than others at schooling their horses

By the time this goes to press (an old-fashioned term but you know what I mean) the National Hunt or “jumps” season will be in full swing, and the turf Flat season will be tailing off as we all look to switch codes, with the exception of the all-weather.

In my many years in racing I have been lucky enough to visit many yards from the almost unknown to household names, with every trainer I have spoken to doing their absolute best with whatever resources they have available.

Unsurprisingly, investment varies from yard to yard, some with almost unlimited funds, others scraping by, and those thoughts made me wonder – are some trainers more adept than others at schooling their horses over hurdles or fences ahead of their debuts over obstacles?

Be that from more staff, state of the art equipment, experience, time, or just the right horses bought in, my theory is that some will stand out and others less so and if that is the case we could have a betting system worth adding to your portfolio.

Data used is from January 1,2015 to 30^th September 2025, chases and hurdles only – no need to look at who was the best in the “good old days”, we need to know who is at the top (or bottom) of the tree more recently.

UK and Ireland are both covered, and we are looking at any horse having his or her first run under either code.Minimum qualifiers per section clearly annotated.

Hurdles only by trainer top 10 BY STRIKE RATE (Minimum 20 qualifiers)

Trainer	Runners	Winners	Strike Rate	Profit/Loss to Betfair SP	Longest Winning Run (LWR)	Longest Losing Run (LLR)
W P Mullins	810	313	38.64%	+£236.10	7	15
Nicky Henderson	528	157	29.73%	+£28.40	5	17
Harry Derham	50	14	28.00%	+£57.13	3	10
Archie Watson	25	7	28.00%	+£16.39	3	10
James Owen	41	11	26.83%	-£16.32	3	7
Paul Nicholls	452	111	24.56%	-£52.46	3	17
Ben Brookhouse	22	5	22.73%	-£0.59	4	14
James Moffat	41	9	21.95%	+£121.04	2	9
Alan Fleming	57	12	21.05%	+£144.45	3	8
Jedd O’Keeffe	45	9	20.00%	+£37.67	2	15
TOTALS	2071	648	31.29%	+£571.81	N/A	N/A

Comment: Some of those trainers you would have expected to see, some a little less obvious. With pretty much a one in three strike rate and a return on investment of 27.61% it won’t set the world on fire, but it’s one to keep in mind when looking at your bets on a daily basis. 

Chases only by trainer top 10 BY STRIKE RATE (Minimum 20 qualifiers)

Trainer	Runners	Winners	Strike Rate	Profit/Loss to Betfair SP	Longest Winning Run (LWR)	Longest Losing Run (LLR)
W P Mullins	345	135	39.13%	+£71.31	10	8
Richard J Bandey	22	8	36.36%	+£118.37	2	8
Emmet Mullins	27	9	33.33%	+£11.56	2	5
Nicky Henderson	213	68	31.92%	+£74.06	5	11
Paul Nicholls	288	76	26.39%	-£66.36	3	12
Sam Thomas	31	8	25.81%	+£17.21	3	10
D M Christie	28	7	25.00%	-£0.91	2	7
Brian Ellison	56	14	25.00%	+£13.32	4	19
John C McConnell	41	10	24.39%	+£21.86	3	12
Alan Fleming	25	6	24.00%	+£0.99	4	9
TOTALS	1076	341	31.69%	+£261.41	N/A	N/A

Comment: That man Mullins again suggesting he is (surprise surprise) a trainer to follow with his newcomers over fences – as he is everywhere else. A close to one in three strike rate is promising, but the profits could be better, so we will have a look at the trainers by profit instead (further down).

For Platinum members we have the list of most profitable trainers to Betfair SP and we also post the selections each day in the Platinum member area.

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