Hannon breaks record with 217 winners in 2011

RICHARD HANNON capped a brilliant 2011 by breaking the British record for the number of Flat winners trained in a calendar year when Guava gave the champion trainer his 217th winner at Wolverhampton.

Hannon, who won his fourth trainers' championship last month, bettered the record twice previously, in 1993 when he trained 182 winners and again in 2008 when he sent out 189 winners.

However, a year later Mark Johnston took the record which Hannon had held for 16 years with 216 winners.

Hannon equalled Johnston's tally of 216 at Lingfield on Wednesday with Numeral and has sent out five runners since in his bid to break the record.

Guava was Hannon's only runner on Saturday, with the two-year-old carrying bottom weight of just 8st in the 1m1½f claimer.

Hannon's stable jockey Richard Hughes said: "The boss wouldn't even be trying. He doesn't think about the figures, he just keeps sending out the winners.

"It keeps happening year after year and it's not a fluke. He keeps it so simple, there's never any targets he just keeps them running. The Horses are happy and winning from March to December, which is some achievement."

Hannon, who is Britain's most prolific winning Flat trainer of all time, has scored more than 3,600 successes since 1970.

Racing Post historian John Randall said: "This is definitely the most significant record-breaking achievementof the year and Richard Hannon will take pride of place in my annual round-up of the year's top ten record-breaking achievements."