GRAHAM MAKES IT TWELVE YEARS AT THE TOP

GRAHAM MAKES IT TWELVE YEARS AT THE TOP

Ian Fortune

12 years! That is how long Graham Holland has been top of the rankings as the most prolific trainer on these shores.

His Riverside Kennel team continue to set the standard on this side of the Irish Sea and it will come as no surprise that he ended 2023 as the trainer with most wins.

His reign at the top began in 2012, taking over from Paul Hennessy and he has scarcely been threatened in the subsequent years. It means that, outside of Holland and Hennessy, no other trainer has topped the list since the rankings commenced in 2001.

For the record Graham sent out 209 winners in 2023, six wins shy of his 2022 tally. Pat Buckley was his nearest rival with a most impressive 148 winners from just 485 runners, while 2022 runner-up Murt Leahy was next with 125 winners.

One man that certainly made giant strides in 2023 was David Murray. Not only did he claim a first classic with Carrick Aldo in the Irish Sprint Cup but he also finished the year with a most impressive 112 winners, some 38 more than the previous year.  

Paraic Campion also topped the one-hundred mark, recording 101 wins, while Liam Dowling (97), Ian Reilly (91), Robert Gleeson (84), David Flanagan (74) and Johhny Linehan (72) completed the top ten in the rankings.

Public Trainer rankings for 2023:

https://www.grireland.ie/results/rankings/?rankingsItem=3&rankingsCriteria=2&rankingsTrack=&rankingsYear=2023