Brian Lawless joins the growing list of riders also training point-to-point winners

Double delight - Brian Lawess guides Lola De Magny (white face) to win the 4yo mares' maiden at Ballycrystal, his first winner as a handler

Double delight - Brian Lawess guides Lola De Magny (right) to victory as his first winner as a handler

Brian Lawless became the latest rider to successfully combine his role in the saddle with that of a trainer when last Sunday's Ballycrystal maiden victor Lola De Magny became his first winner as a permit holder.

She is one of two four-year-olds for whom Lawless has a hunter certificate, with her stablemate Getasecondchance finishing fifth on the same card, although with 15 to 20 horses under his care, it is an operation that will likely have an even bigger impact heading into the spring.

Fittingly, the victory for Lola De Magny was recorded at the Wexford venue which is also the training grounds where he shares a yard with fellow handler Matty Flynn O'Connor. The Wicklow native was not the only individual who successfully combined rider and trainer duties on that card last Sunday, as Pa King did likewise with Muskerry Rock in the winners-of-two contest.

The path from a rider to trainer has been well trodden in previous decades, particularly within the point-to-point sphere, with many of the sport’s leading trainers enjoying a career in the saddle before taking up that role, but the likes of Lawless and King are part of a growing trend in recent seasons.

There are now no fewer than ten riders who also hold a trainer's permit, the most high-profile of whom are Rob James and Derek O'Connor. Their efforts are particularly commendable, with the pair both continuing to develop their burgeoning racing operations while remaining among the most successful riders nationally.

JP McManus with Derek O'Connor after buying top lot Largy Go at the Goffs Aintree Sale

Derek O'Connor also combines riding and training point-to-pointersCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

James has ridden ten winners this season, three shy of the reigning champion Barry O'Neill, and one in front of O'Connor. Interestingly, in response to the growing number of individuals successfully combining both roles, the sport's regulators have introduced a new regulation which precludes riders who also hold a trainer's permit from partnering a horse for a different yard they themselves have a runner in the race.

This will impact James and O'Connor more than most, given they have the biggest stables of horses from within the cohort of individuals with dual roles.

Significantly, they also have long-established associations with outside yards that they will have to factor into the equation following this ruling.