Champion British jockey Richard Hughes will bring the curtain down on his riding career aboard Fox Trotter in the Qatar Stakes at Goodwood.
Hughes, who rode his first winner in 1988, is hanging up his saddle in preparation after Saturday for a training career and will be hoping Brian Meehan’s Fox Trotter can give him the perfect send-off.
Hughes has six rides booked at his favourite track where he rode Land Rover to win the opening race on Thursday for trainer Richard Hannon who compared his stable jockey to the great Lester Piggott.
“It’s always dangerous to compare people with Lester Piggott, but for us, he’s been better than Lester Piggott,” Hannon said.
“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.”
Fellow trainer Hughie Morrison, who has used Hughes whenever the Hannon team did not need him, said the 42-year-old would be missed.
“In terms of jockeyship, I don’t think are many better,” Morrison said.
“We’ve been very lucky to use him a lot as the Hannons tend to have a lot of speed horses, while mine are invariably staying types.
“This means he has often been more available than not over the years, and I’m jolly well glad that has been the case.
“We get on well and I think he likes riding my horses. It’s been a good partnership over the years and I’m going to miss him greatly.
“He’s a huge, huge loss to the industry.”
Piggott also paid tribute to Hughes.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
