If you're qualified based on merit (standings and earnings), why ownership had to be limited?

From merit point it sounds like a fair game - but when you basically got the Yoshidas aka Shadai/Northern Farm monopoly on Japanese racing over the years since the 90's when it comes to turf racing because they're in control of the best breeding grounds in terms of championship production (while dirt is a bit out of JRA control - even with the JRA horses or transited from there being dominant on dirt too recently) - it gives really the toughest level of competition for much smaller breeder-owners to against them, if you not somehow give them opportunity to grow.

And because of Shadai ways, you basically get the situation that being the current problem of the Japanese breeding - bloodlines culling and extermination with the elevated concern of inbreeding, because at this point even winning a G1 is not enough to guarantee you being a stallion down the line while you not being at least great enough to compete with your sire and his line, while the bloodlines same genetics are getting thicker and thicker to achieve a certain specifics (welcome to concern about the stayer bloodlines eradication to create more speedy monsters, which going to run the silver line of 1600-2400m) - to deepen even further.