Worcestershire trainer Dr. Richard Newland, a former general practitioner, is best known for saddling Pineau De Re – his first runner in the race – to win the Grand National in 2014. However, Newland had come to public attention much earlier in his training career when in 2006/07 – as a permit holder, with just four horses in his care – he won the Listed William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Sandown and the Betfair Handicap Hurdle at Newbury at Ascot with Overstrand and the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival with Burntoakboy.

Newland took out a public training licence in 2007, so that he could, in his own words, ‘train for a few close friends and relatives’. However, even today, he deliberately limits the number of horses in his string to a dozen or so at any one time, so that each horse receives individual care and attention. For such as small yard, Newland has achieved extraordinary success down the years and in 2018/19 achieved his best seasonal tally so far, in terms of number of winners (53) and prize money (£645,005). He has the occasional runner on the level, but all his big race wins – the most recent of which was the Grade Three Pertemps Network Swinton Hurdle at Haydock in May, 2019 – have come under National Hunt Rules.

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