Honeybunch wasn't what I'd call a late starter. She didn't start the first time when tried, and she looked bad enough that some folks thought she should've been culled. She won her first show before she was 3 years of age, so I wouldn't call that a late starter personally.
But again, what does a dog that begins a career at the age of three have to do with limiting that dog to one contract per year? I don't see the correlation between the two. The amount of contracts a dog has per year is based upon the amount of damage an animal would take within a contract, the amount of time it takes to recover, and the skills and judgement the owner has in knowing when the animal is ready for another.