Saturday's Goodwood card marked the finale of the riding career of three-time champion jockey Richard Hughes, who will hang up his tack and shift his focus to a training career.
“I love racing, it's in my blood,” said Hughes, who rode 2,440 winners in Britain over the flat and jumps. “No matter what I was doing, if I was driving the [horse] box, I'd still like it. I was very lucky to be a successful jockey and I want to go out on top. I look forward to my next career as a trainer and I'm very lucky to walk into it.”
Hughes said he will likely start off with 10-15 horses with aspirations to gain more owners, as well as to pick up horses-in-training at the sales.
“Plenty of people have said they will send me horses; it's not set in stone, but I'll take their word they will send me some horses and I'm happy with that. I hope to end up with about 60 by Christmas.”
Hughes, notoriously one of the tallest riders in the jockeys' room, began his career over jumps. He served his apprenticeship on the flat with his father Dessie Hughes. Hughes moved to Britain in 1994 and was the retained rider to Khalid Abdullah from 2001 to 2007. He cites Khalid Abdullah's Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert) as one of the greatest he rode, but said Canford Cliffs (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), whom he partnered under his agreement with Richard Hannon, was likely the best.
“If Oasis Dream got the mile it might have been a bit different, but he didn't, and Canford Cliffs was just a wonderful horse,” Hughes reflected. “We'll probably never see another Coventry winner like it. He actually ran away with me in the Coventry and still won.”
Hughes began his incredibly lucrative association with trainer Richard Hannon Sr.–also his father-in-law–in 2008, and has continued the partnership with Richard Hannon Jr. after the latter took the reins of the training operation last year. Among the luminaries he rode for that stable in addition to Canford Cliffs are the four-time Group 1 winner Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}), who gave him a first British Classic in the 2013 G1 1000 Guineas; champion miler Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}); and Group 1-winning miler Olympic Glory (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}). He also had successful partnerships with multiple Group 1 winners Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}); The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}); and Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat). He also won the G1 Epsom Oaks in 2013 aboard Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}).
Hannon Jr. led the tributes to Hughes, saying, “He's been great; he hasn't missed a beat for years. He's been very reliable and massively important to our success. [Being part of the family] has made everything easier, as he's with us all the time–Sunday lunches, socially and things like that.”
“It's always dangerous to compare people with Lester Piggott, but for us, he's been better than Lester Piggott,” Hannon added. “A lot of the racing public won't agree with that, but for us he's been an example of a stable jockey, and we'll miss him.”
Piggott himself weighed in, saying, “Having been a tall jockey myself I know only too well the challenges that Richard Hughes will have faced during his career. Despite being as close to six foot as any flat jockey would want to be, he has had an outstanding career. His style is elegant, his determination is steely and he is always so patient as a rider. It was a pleasure to watch him all these years.”
Johnny Murtagh, another jockey-turned-trainer who stopped race riding in 2014, said, “Richard is a very good friend of mine and I know he's retiring at the right time. He's a great man, a great jockey and I'm sure he'll do a brilliant job training.”
Ryan Moore, currently sidelined by injury, told Betfair, “It is strange to think that, when I return to race riding, Richard Hughes will not be in the weigh room anymore. Hughesie has had a massive influence on my career. Before I ever started riding, he used to ride for my dad. I used to love watching him ride. He was one of the riders that I used to watch closely before I started riding, and I watched him even more after I started riding.”
“The weigh room will be a poorer place without him,” Moore added. “I have no doubt that he will be very successful as a trainer. He is a deep thinker, he is clever and he is seriously motivated. I am sure that we will still see him lots.”
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