Brian Hughes interview: Champion jockey on how long he'll keep riding winners and the secret to his success

The Northern Irishman, who is based in Carlton-in-Cleveland in North Yorkshire will be crowned top jumps rider for the third time in four years at Sandown this afternoon.

Speaking at a press conference organised by Great British Racing ahead of today’s bet365 Jump Finale at the Esher track, Hughes said: “I don’t have many years left to ride.

“I’m 38 in June so 40 is not far away. It doesn’t seem like anytime at all since I first came over to England in 2005.

“There’s not many jump jockeys who go on into their forties, maybe early forties but not much more.

“On the Flat they go to 50, but I just don’t want to take anything for granted.”

Hughes’ wife Lucy has established a yard after a switch of career from school teaching and while it might be natural to assume that a man of Hughes’ vast experience will swap the saddle for training one day, the man for County Armagh insists otherwise: “No, that is not the idea at all.

“My wife was a schoolteacher and she was getting fed up with that and this is her gig. I am merely there to help out, Lucy runs it.

“There will never ever be a Brian Hughes trainer - no chance. I don’t fancy that,” said the man who last year became only the fourth jumps jockey to ride 200 winners in a season.

This year, the figure is lower - 165 - after yesterday’s win on Haribo Collonges at Perth, but it still puts him 40 clear of his nearest rival in the standings, Sean Bowen.

Hughes has managed to secure one ride at Sandown today, on Jennie Candlish’s outsider Bertie’s Wish in the opening two-mile bet365 Novices' Championship Final Handicap Hurdle (1.05) today.

The majority of his winners have been provided again by the north’s leading jumps trainer Donald McCain, the son of Grand National-winning legend Ginger.

“We get on great, Donald is a brilliant trainer and has a great team and bunch of loyal owners who are very supportive of the yard and me.

“I enjoy riding Donald’s horses and we have had a lot of success over the past couple of seasons and a lot more in coming seasons, too.

Donald has his opinion, I have mine and others have theirs too. But we said at the outset there are going to be times when things don't go right or I might make the wrong call. But it is human error, not intentional so we discuss things, find common ground and move on.

As well as McCain, Hughes rides for several other trainers including Yorkshire’s Sue Smith, Phil Kirby, Micky Hammond and further North, Greystoke’s Nicky Richards.

He credits his long-standing agent Richard Hale for putting his gruelling schedule together and making sure he is in the right place at the right time every day.

“I have very little to do with that. I just ‘play dumb’ and let Richard deal with all of that,” he joked.

“He keeps all the balls in the air. My party line is ‘speak to Richard’. He’s been my agent for the last 18 years and done a brilliant job. He’s a friend as much as an agent to me.”

One criticism of Hughes down the years is that he has been happier riding at the so-called ‘lesser’ tracks rather than the big days like the Cheltenham Festival, Grand National, Boxing Day at Kempton, Ascot and so on.

But the jockey, who won connections just over £1 million in first prize money and just shy of £2 million overall during the past year, says he only wants to ride horses that are competitive or have a chance of winning.

He said: “Everyone wants to be riding in the big, competitive races and get the big race winners.

Donald buys a lot of horses and we are hoping we can drop on some good graded ones.

“But if you don’t ride for the people who have them, then it makes it very difficult to get on them.

“I don’t know what I can do differently, really. I ride for who I ride for and if they have a good horse then hopefully I will ride it.

“I’d love to go to Cheltenham with loads of fancied rides but if they aren’t there we can’t.”

“I’m not there for a social ride. People will moan and it gives them something to complain about if I am not at those bigger festivals, but if I’m not going to be competitive I won’t be there, but if I have a good ride, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

Ironically, Hughes missed out on the winning ride in this year’s Grand National when jockey Derek Russell passed a late fitness test to ride Lucinda Russell’s Corach Rambler to victory, with Hughes on stand-by having replaced Fox at Aintree earlier in the week on Russell’s Ahoy Senor.

“Everyone wants to ride the big ones, a National or a Gold Cup. I nearly came close to having a good ride in the National this year but it wasn’t to be.”

The new jumps season starts again on Monday and Hughes says he will be straight back trying to win his fourth championship to add to those he claimed in 2019, 2022 and this year.

“We’ll start again and I’ll be trying to ride as many winners as I can.”