Successful trainer Alan Bailey is calling it a day after training for nearly 40 years and it comes off the back of his small operation suffering with situations of prize money and fixture lists hindering his career.
He believes that similar smaller yards in the sport will be extinct within 10 years due to problems within horse racing that are not being addressed and ultimately heaping an abundance of pressure on these trainers that do not have as many horses as the main handlers in the game.
Bailey is now 80 years of age and after having a very successful career which has seen him land 600 winners during his tenor as a trainer will know pass the baton over to his grandson Joseph Parr.
(Credit Racing Post) Bailey said: "I hope to hand over to Joseph next month but I've already told him to look for something else to do in the long term as I reckon most small trainers will be out of business in ten years time.
"It's all work and no reward as you can't compete with the big boys who are running horses that cost 300,000gns or more in maidens with prize money of £4,000."
Bailey has been known during his career to land some huge gambles, especially in sellers races and added: The fixture list is a joke and they don't put sellers on anymore especially for two-year-olds. "There was a particular seller at Windsor the night before Royal Ascot that we liked to target and I remember winning it one year with filly who went on to finish second in the Lowther Stakes.
"We backed her from 33-1 into 9-4 favourite and she never came off the bridle to win under Peter Bloomfield. We later sold her for over 100,000gns which kept us afloat – but it's not like that now."
He added: "Also the motorways are so crowded these days that it's a nightmare to go anywhere whether it's by horsebox or car and I can't wait to finish. I'll give Joseph some help but it's a young man's game these days."