Roger Teal tops the table for lowest percentage of non-runners

Roger Teal finished top of the table for the lowest percentage of non-runners over the last 12 months.

The Great Shefford trainer recorded just one non-runner from a total of 112 declarations, which yielded a percentage of 0.89 per cent.

Incredibly, Richard Fahey also finished near the summit despite having a huge 1,944 declarations.

Fahey registered just 48 non-runners to produce a percentage of 2.47 per cent. Only Teal, John Flint (1.49 per cent), Chris Dwyer (1.6 per cent), John Mackie (1.68 per cent), Antony Brittain (2.17 per cent) and John Gallagher (2.35 per cent) produced a lower percentage.

Teal said: “You normally know when you’re entering whether they’re going to run or not. Basically when I declare I fully intend to run them unless something untoward happens.

"I suppose not too many things could have gone wrong during that 12-month period because 48 hours in the life of a racehorse can be a long, long time!”

Richard Fahey: 'If it wasn’t for 48-hour decs I reckon our number of 48 non-runners could be less than 20'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Fahey believes his percentage would be significantly lower if there were no 48-hour declarations.

“Self-cert is brilliant,” he said. “A lot of our non-runners over the past 12 months have been down to inclement weather.

“You can never be totally sure about the weather and if the ground will dry or soften up. A fair few of mine will have been declared on soft and not run because of a significant going change that wouldn’t suit them.

“If it wasn’t for 48-hour decs I reckon our number of 48 non-runners could be less than 20.”

A statement from the National Trainers Federation read: "Having provided input to the consultation, the NTF was satisfied the BHA’s new regulations on non-runners were a balanced package when announced last summer.

"We would much rather 13 trainers had avoided being stopped from using self-certificates for 12 months and we note they are all Flat trainers. We suspect the method of calculation has given jump trainers more opportunity to manage their percentage because they have been in full operation for most of the relevant period. Flat trainers with few all-weather runners over the winter have not benefited to the same degree.

"Going changes, injuries and other welfare issues make non-runners a fact of life when training racehorses; 48-hour declarations magnify their effect on the Flat.

"It is in the interests of British racing to minimise non-runners and we believe, over time, the new regulations will bring the rate of non runners down further."

Read exclusive previews from 6pm daily on racingpost.com