'I need a breakthrough horse but it will happen' - Richard Hughes revelling in hot run as Palace Green pounces

Richard Hughes chuckled when it was put to him his rich run of form could make him champion trainer, but he was deadly serious in outlining his ambitions for the year after the well-regarded Palace Green landed the 1m2f novice.

The gelding's success means eight of the Lambourn-based Hughes's last 17 runners have won and that sequence includes four placed efforts.

"It's great, long may it last," said the three-time champion jockey, who started training in 2015. "My wife Lizzie says I'm always negative in the house, but that's because I'm a realist and know what I've got. This year, I've been sticking my chest out and she reckons it's the first time I've said we've got a really good bunch. This year looks really promising."

Asked what targets he had for the coming months, Hughes said: "I'd love to win a couple of Group races and I have four or five potential Group horses. Every year, I tend to have one who maybe didn't fulfil that promise, but there are definitely a handful there.

"The good horses are easier to train, but I've been able to survive on run-of-the-mill horses, which is a good thing. We get plenty of winners, but I do need that breakthrough horse – there's no doubt about it. It hasn't been there, I know that, but it's going to happen." 

Pont Neuf and Charlie Bishop emerge on topCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Johnson Houghton joy

Eve Johnson Houghton has made a bright start to the campaign with her juveniles and Pont Neuf continued the run by winning the 5f novice under Charlie Bishop.

The Oxfordshire trainer has now had three two-year-old runners this season and they have yielded finishing positions of 311.

"You really don't know until you get them out," she said. "I thought they were going okay, but I do loads of bunched cantering on the grass and I haven't been able to do that this year. 

"I've been in the dark. We've been doing that bunched cantering on the all-weather, but that's not our normal routine. Pont Neuf and Tanager, who won at Chelmsford on Friday, had gone quite well though."

Pipe pupil purring

Les Reynolds, travelling head lad to Simon and Ed Crisford, took a trip down memory lane after Liseo had the answers in the 1m3f handicap.

Reynolds, a familiar face on the racecourse through his time working for John Gosden, reminisced after recording a post-race debrief from jockey Harry Davies on his smartphone. 

"I started with Mr [Martin] Pipe in 1989 and you never thought you'd be doing something like that, but we'd go home and then write reports for him," he said. 

"He left nothing unturned, but what hasn't changed is the feeling of having a winner. It makes the journey home much better. Mr Pipe always said he'd rather win a seller than be second in the National, and I know what he means."

Double delight

Jamie Insole and Richard Newland joined up in December and the former was thrilled after Farasi Lane obliged in the Class 3 mile handicap, which provided the two with a double following Hill Station's victory at Wolverhampton.

"His homework had been brilliant and he was second here last month, which could be considered a career-best. That's amazing for a six-year-old to still be improving," Insole said. 

"That's probably a career-best again and hopefully it shows what we can do with these older horses."

Dubai Hong Kong-bound

Dubai Honour and Ryan Moore strike in the Listed featureCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Group 1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin on April 28 is the plan for Dubai Honour after he struck in the Listed feature and it is easy to see why owner Mohamed Obaida and trainer William Haggas are chasing that race, which is worth around £2.8 million.

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