'I'm livid' - Hughes blames fixtures for missing out on Lambourn Open Day

One regular supporter of the Peter O'Sullevan Lambourn Open Day who will not be welcoming the public to his stable will be Richard Hughes, who described the number of fixtures staged on Good Friday as making it impossible to support the event.

While Hughes has no runners at the All-Weather Championships card at Newcastle he sends five to Lingfield and Chelmsford, meaning he does not have enough staff to safely cater for the public.

"Everybody knows there’s a staffing crisis and I don't have enough people here to facilitate 300 people walking into the yard," said Hughes, who last month called for immigration rules to be relaxed in order for foreign work riders and stable staff to be recruited.

"There used to be no racing [on Good Friday] and then there was one meeting with massive prize-money. Now it's just gradually becoming like every other day.

"Now we are racing for good money, that’s why I'm running so many horses. But why can't that be on Easter Monday?"

When all-weather finals day was introduced in the winter of 2013-14, it broke the tradition of a racing-free Good Friday in Britain, an innovation that was offset with major prize-money commitments and a second meeting at Musselburgh.

A third meeting was added in 2016 but Hughes says the staffing situation has deteriorated since the last time the open day took place properly in 2019.

Richard Hughes: 'Now Good Friday is gradually becoming like every other day'Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Hughes railed against a culture of "people being hired to find out how to get more people into racing" while the combination of more fixtures and fewer staff left him unable to open up the yard.

Hughes said: "I'm not being big-headed but people coming to an open day want to meet Richard Hughes and talk about my horses, which is what I've done in the past.

"For every seven or eight horses you need a member of staff standing by to ensure safety for the public. I have 70 horses here so I’d need at least 12 people on the yard, keeping an eye on things, as well as me, my wife and my family there greeting people and serving tea and biscuits.

"In the past I've sold horses out of it and got new owners, and I'm livid."

Hughes remains critical of the National Association of Racing Staff leadership and the BHA for not doing more to push for the sector to be included in the list of occupations suffering chronic shortages that would therefore qualify for a tier 2 specialist worker visa at below the entry level wage of £25,600.

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