Richard Hughes – “Magnificent Windsor Seven”
HUGHSIE’S “Magnificent Seven” at Windsor, Frankel’s glorious swansong on Champions’ Day at Ascot and Frankie deciding to quit from Godolphin after eighteen years as retained jockey to a global racing empire. Has there ever been such a week comprising three major racing stories, all of which not only hit the sports pages but made the national headlines as well?
Richard Hughes was first out of the gates last Monday 15 October, when matching Frankie’s oh so famous Magnficent Seven at Ascot in 1996 by winning on seven mounts at the only other English royal course, Windsor. I was first alerted to the unfolding story during a phone conversation with a fellow Solario Racing partner who said, “Oh my god, Hughes has just won the first four at Windsor.”
In his regular Saturday column for the Racing Post, Richard Hughes conveyed more about the emotion, pride and pure joy in winning seven at his lucky racecourse and matching Frankie’s feat of sixteen years ago than I could possibly do in three hundred odd words. Forget the cynics who noted that Ryan Moore gave up his last ride to let Hughsie have the mount, forget the humbugs who said it was Windsor on a humdrum Monday in October . This was a a truly extraordinary feat from a jockey who had not only overcome his demons during recent years but who already had the jockeys’ championship in the bag.
Interestingly, an owner and good friend of mine had talked through jockey bookings for a horse he had running at Bath the previous week and I had asked him whether he’d considered Richard Hughes. “Yes, he’s a good jockey but he’s won the championship and won’t be hungry now,” he said.
I rang him last week after Hughsie had ridden not just a 10,168/1 seven-timer but a treble the following day at Leicester and asked him if he still felt R Hughes was not hungry enough!
In the interests of public decency, I will not repeat what he said but it was along the lines of asking me to go away!
Congratulations to Richard Hughes on becoming Champion Jockey and on his marvellous feat last Monday which capped a fabulous season.
