'Too many are in one kennel' - Sir Mark Prescott on why the Derby isn't the same

Sir Mark Prescott has said the Derby no longer generates the same excitement as it did in the past and has put that down to too many contenders being concentrated in one yard and the lack of opportunities to see the horses often enough before the big day.

Prescott was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper to mark his 50 years among the winners, in which he looked back at his time in the sport with many of his usual wonderful anecdotes and looked to the future with some trepidation.

The Derby has long been the race at the top of Prescott's wishlist and he recalled with great fondness the time when various Newmarket yards would have a Derby contender, including 1964 when his boss Jack Waugh trained the much-fancied Oncidium.

"It was such an exciting time," Prescott said. "There were a few others trained in Newmarket, so you were always hoping to wake up one morning to hear that Indiana [trained by Jack Watts] was coughing. Every morning I'd ask Noel Murless's head lad whether he had any good news for me, whether Sweet Moss was ill or anything. There is not the same excitement now."

As to why that might be the case, Prescott added: "What happens these days is that the horses don't run enough at two for people to get to know them. They have no allegiances, and I believe too many are in one kennel. You couldn't possibly do it, and I'm not an advocate of restraint of trade, but there's a case for limiting each trainer to 70 horses, as they do in Japan.

"The best trainers would still get almost all the best horses but it would make it more interesting. Nobody really wants to train 300 horses but they do it because they don't want others to have them in case there's a good one. Until recently, each trainer only had one Derby horse."

Read more from Sir Mark Prescott in The Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a three-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday