Richard Hughes: personal dragon is consigned to past amid glimpse of the future

Published in the Racing Post on May 6, 2013

We had a glimpse of the future yesterday with Richard Hannon absent from Newmarket as the flint-tough Sky Lantern gave him his fourth British Classic when getting up in the final 50 yards to deny Charlie Hills his first.

It is more than 40 years since Hannon took over his father's string of nine jumpers, most of whom weren't short of leg problems. You get the impression Richard is increasingly close to handing over the baton as head of the extraordinary empire he has built in Wiltshire to his son Richard jnr, who wrote the book on affability and was happy to be debriefing the press just 24 hours on from the yard being knocked sideways by the eclipse of Toronado.

Sky Lantern (left) runs down Just The Judge (maroon silks) to land the 2013 1,000 GuineasCredit: Edward Whitaker

But this was an even more momentous result for Richard Hughes, who was slaying a very personal dragon by riding his first British Classic winner. We are so used to Hughesie being successful at the highest level, dominating the likes of Royal Ascot and Goodwood, that you forget this born communicator and instinctive horseman would feel a powerful need to pin down that first crucial Classic as it is those five races that form the bones upon which the flesh of the Flat record books is placed.

Hughes certainly had a willing partner in Sky Lantern, who was supplemented for last year’s Moyglare which she duly won – making her the sole Group 1 winner in yesterday's field – and then endured the passage from hell at the Breeders' Cup. It should also be pointed out that one of the few to beat her last season was yesterday's most notable absentee, Certify.

Sky Lantern had run more than decently when trying to give Hot snap 3lb in the Nell Gwyn, but Henry Cecil's filly, who had been all the rage since that trial victory, was one of the first in bother here and folded into a tame ninth, which has to be all wrong as not only did Sky Lantern uphold the form but so did the third that day, Winning Express, who was fourth here.

There was widespread delight for Hughes – even I got a kiss from his missus, the excellent Lizzie, although she spotted me when I turned up second time in the queue. Richard has been for some years one of the best things about the Flat. He is, of course, jumps bred and it was great that his rightly proud parents Dessie and Eileen were on hand to see their champion jockey son open his Classic account.

At last: Richard Hughes, the then champion jockey, savours his first British Classic victoryCredit: Edward Whitaker

And in terms of timing you couldn't beat this as a pick-me-up as team Hannon were clearly still reeling from Toronado not doing himself justice behind Dawn Approach on Saturday. Richard Hannon jnr said: "We were very low after Toronado. He didn't finish his race and Hughesie said in another 50 yards he would have been near enough last."

And in bouncing back the yard struck a notable blow for Ben Keswick, for whom Sky Lantern is a first horse with the Hannons. Hannon said: "Ben lives in Hong Kong," which is true enough but hardly tells the whole story – a bit like saying Mr Obama resides in Washington without adding the detail that he does so in the White House.

Keswick is the youthful chairman and MD of Jardine Matheson, one of the original Hong Kong trading houses, and that makes him one of the most powerful men in the Far East. Let's hope we see more of his runners here as he is plainly up for a challenge, as supplementing for the Moyglare and then shipping across the herring pond for the Breeders' Cup illustrates.

The scene at Newmarket as flying grey Sky Lanterns scorches to 1,000 Guineas successCredit: Edward Whitaker

Charlie Hills nearly pulled off his first Group 1 and Classic in a single stroke with Just the Judge, who gave her all in second and just got nabbed at the death. She has plenty of options over further but Barry Hills can be proud of the job his son has done with his first Classic preparation.

So another Guineas weekend flashes past and all roads lead to Epsom. We have been hugely blessed in recent years with the calibre of the very best horses on the Flat and now we need Dawn Approach to keep the flag cracking in the breeze.

Dawn Approach, a wide-margin winner of the 2013 2,000 Guineas, with trainer Jim BolgerCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

His will be the dominant narrative in coming weeks with Jim Bolger, adept at feeding the flames of anticipation with a few well-chosen quotes. The circus moves on to Chester and York where fresh players will whizz in from semi-obscurity and be festooned with fanciful quotes from star-struck bookies.

It is a great time of year and although I am decades into covering it, there is never any sense of it going stale because the fascination pulses ever on. There may have been hundreds of Derbys but the most important is always the next one.

I've won some 50 Classics elsewhere and I knew I would do it one day

Richard Hughes was champion jockey for the first time last year and has won his first British Classic, 24 hours after the disappointment of Toronado's fourth-placed finish in the 2,000 Guineas. Here he reflects on a watershed win aboard Sky Lantern . . .

This is a monkey off my back, especially after what happened with Toronado on Saturday. But I've won some 50 Classics elsewhere and I knew I would do it one day. It's still very special and I'm delighted my mum and dad were here to see it as well.

I couldn't dwell on Saturday's disappointment – my wife Lizzie was that low I had my mind taken off it consoling her! I said it was only a horserace.

Winning a Classic has been very hard with Aidan O'Brien's dominance over the last decade, but Richard [Hannon] and his team have stepped up a gear, so hopefully over the next four or five years with better horses there will be more to come.

I still believe in Toronado – he was coughing after the race but hasn't been scoped yet. His lad said he blew for half an hour, and when he won the Craven he blew for only a minute and a half. I've believed in this filly too. I rode her the way I wanted to ride her.

I have a great team behind me, whether I ride good or bad races. They let me do what I want to do and that makes a big difference – it gives you confidence as you go out to ride with no pressure. I believe I can win on every horse I ride.

It was Richard jnr's idea to supplement her for the Moyglare and to take her to America, and I should probably have won on her there. It's a great team effort.

Have I still got a wish list? No, I'm happy with what I've got, not what I haven't got.

More RP Classics:

Frankel: Alastair Down on the emergence of a genuine superstar at Newmarket

The day owner Noel Furlong won a pile at Cheltenham with 'certainty' Destriero

'I am strict. Damn strict but always fair. Discipline is the main thing'

Harry Findlay: it was, and always will be, the easiest £33,000 I've ever won

Cheers, tears and adulation as legendary jockey Sir Anthony McCoy bids goodbye

Alastair Down on a win that secured Kauto Star's place among the all-time greats

Paul Carberry: I still believe I gave Harchibald the best chance of winning

Denman's racing immortality leaves mere passing firmly in the shade

Barry Hills: never bet odds-on, never go each-way and don't be scared of a price

Ted Walsh: look, sometimes I put my foot into it but that is part of what I am

Alastair Down: the day Yorkshire embraced Sir Henry Cecil as one of its own

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