Champions crowned on final day: Paul Nicholls, Brian Hughes and Luca Morgan lift titles

Nicholls looks ahead to record 4,000 jump winners

Trainer Paul Nicholls has revealed that becoming the first person to saddle 4,000 Jump winners and beating Martin Pipe’s longstanding record of 15 Champion Jump Trainer championships remains high on his agenda.

The Ditcheat-based handler has saddled 3,582 British Jump winners to date. Pipe, who retired in 2006, enjoyed a total of 4,183 winners of which 3,927 were Jump successes while 256 came on the Flat.

Speaking on a call organised by Great British Racing ahead of being crowned Champion Jump Trainer for the 14th time at Sandown, Nicholls revealed: “I always thought I’d love to train 4,000 Jump winners because nobody has done that before. Martin’s total went over 4,000 with some Flat winners,

“To win a 16th championship would be nice, off course it would. Martin was a brilliant trainer and there wasn’t quite the amount of racing back then to train the number of winners and win the number of championships he did. He was incredible but of course it would be nice to equal or beat his records.”

Reflecting on the highlights of the 2022/23 season, the Nicholls said: “It’s been a fantastic season with some fantastic horses that have been very consistent all through the campaign and we are obviously thrilled. It reflects very well on the whole team and everyone involved that we’ve had a 28 per cent strike rate right through from October until , which is the best we’ve ever achieved.

“We set the record for prize money in the 2007-08 season (£3,646,511) when we had the superstars like Kauto Star, Denman, Master Minded, Neptune Collonges and Big Buck’s. We haven’t quite got that team now but we should beat the record quite comfortably I hope with our runners at Sandown on Saturday.

“We want to compete at the highest level and we’re getting there again. It’s like with a football team – they might win the Premiership and then go away for four or five years before coming back. It’s all about the players on the team.

“Bravemansgame was mighty all season. He won a Charlie Hall, a King George VI Chase and has finished second in a Gold Cup and run a mighty race at Punchestown. He’s only eight and I think there’s more to come. We’re thrilled with him.

“We had two winners (Stay Away Fay in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle and Stage Star in the Turners Novices’ Chase) at the Cheltenham Festival. We went a few years without a Festival winner and it was hard. I think we now have 48 Cheltenham Festival winners and to crack 50 will be fantastic.”

One team member Nicholls singled out for praise was stable jockey Harry Cobden, who was aboard Bravesmangame throughout the season and partnered both Cheltenham Festival winners.

He continued: “Hopefully we’ve got a good number of years together. I don’t know how long Harry intends to go on before he goes back farming but I am sure he’s going to carry on until at least he is 30 if he stays injury-free. He loves the job and is good for us.

“It’s great to have a good solid jockey behind you, so you haven’t got to keep ringing your owners up saying who do you want this weekend. It makes my life a lot easier and everyone has got a lot of faith in Harry.

“Ruby (Walsh) rode for me for 12 or 14 years and that was always a fantastic relationship. I had to juggle with him riding in Ireland but to have a jockey of that calibre riding for you all the time is very good.

“At 24, Harry is young for a Jump jockey his age with his experience. He is strong and thinks a race. I don’t think there is anyone riding better than him and he is a great team player – he is in here every day.”

One area where Nicholls does plan to expand in any real sense is Flat racing over the summer months.

He concluded: “When Megan (Nicholls, daughter) was riding a few years back we had more runners on the Flat to help her and I’ve got one or two for this summer. We’ll just keep dipping in and out with the odd runner or two as we have done for the past few years.

“Pleasant Man could be one to go to Royal Ascot and we also have a horse called Beny Nahar Road and a mare called Secret Shadow to run on the Flat too. Killaloan, who runs in the first at Sandown, is only rated 66 on the Flat and I’m sure we’ll find a race for him.

“But they have to have a break – I don’t think you can do both at the highest level.

“Rubaud is a great example. I was reading somewhere that someone couldn’t understand while I wasn’t running a horse like him on the Flat as he’s rated 98 and could maybe go for something at Royal Ascot and run well. But these top horses can’t do both – they need a good summer and then come back next year.

“Basically, I’ll just stick to the jumping.”

Hughes remains 'greedy' after lifting third title

Perfectionist Brian Hughes admits he has become “greedy” in pursuit of winners and despite notching up 165 this season was still left “frustrated”.

The 37 year old was crowned Champion Jump Jockey for a third time at Sandown's bet365 Jump Finale.

And despite finishing 40 winners clear of nearest pursuer Sean Bowen, Hughes - whose 165 successes this season have come from 875 rides – is disappointed not to have hit the 200 mark again.

With the season barely over, he is already focusing on a fourth career championship next term and eclipsing his tally of 204 in 2021-2022, when he became only the fourth Jump jockey in history to hit a double century - alongside legendary riders Peter Scudamore, Sir AP McCoy and Richard Johnson.

Describing his season he said at Cheltenham last week: “I thought the summer was quite good and I got to 100 winners quicker, but then I’ve just felt very frustrated from October time. I just never felt as though I’d got rolling the way I’d have liked to.

“It was just things like the weather and other factors, it definitely meant I had a slower time. I suppose I’m getting a bit greedy, but when you’re setting that sort of pace you kind of just want to maintain it.

“Donald’s (McCain, trainer) horses were running out of their skin last year and they’ve been running well this year but I suppose they’re just that bit higher in the handicap. We’ve got plenty of horses for next year and hopefully we have another good year.

“The plan is to become a four-time champion jockey if I’m lucky. You never know in this game, so I’ll just keep my head down and keep working away.

“To hit 160 winners is great, but when I got to 100 by the end of October I did think that 200 was definitely on the cards. It didn’t happen but there’s always next year.

“Donald and I have a fantastic partnership and we just keep rolling. He bought a couple at the Cheltenham sales and he’s got his eye on more – so onwards and upwards.”

Hughes received his title before racing at Sandown Park this afternoon, where he was joined by a host of friends and family who chartered a bus to ensure everyone could make the trip down south.

The jockey, whose first title was won during the Covid pandemic, added: “There’s a bus load at Sandown! I organised for a bus to take all the family down there. There’s my wife and kids and then her parents and my parents and plenty of others, so logistically it seemed the right thing to do. It’s a long way to go in cars and getting on a bus together takes the stress away.

“Everything was behind closed doors when I won my first title, but the welcome I got last year was great. I’m not really one for fanfare or anything like that, but my family had a good day.

“My wife put on a party last summer but that’s definitely not happening again – I had to pick up the tab for that so I think we’re done with the parties for now! She did a really good job and everyone there wants another one, but that cost a good bit of money! Maybe we’ll have a retirement party one day, but hopefully no time soon.”

Hughes is a jockey who has great success on the northern circuit, though some have questioned why he is not an ever-present figure at some of the bigger meetings.

However, he explains that his main drive has and always will be to ride winners, regardless of the level.

Speaking at a press conference arranged by Great British Racing, Hughes added: “Everyone wants to ride big race winners and take part in the competitive races and it’s not that I don’t want to. Donald buys a lot of horses and we’re hoping to drop on a couple of good Graded horses, but if you don’t ride for the people who have them it makes it fairly hard to get on them.

“I don’t know what I can do any differently really. I ride for who I ride for and if they have a good horse hopefully I’ll ride them. I’d love to be going to Cheltenham with plenty of rides.

“I want to be competitive and I want to ride winners and not be on horses that are there to be social runners. People always give out and moan and I suppose if I’m not at these big festivals it gives them something to moan about. If I’m not going to be competitive somewhere and I’ve got a good ride somewhere else, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.

“I want to ride winners and I go where I’m required to go, that’s my job. I’m not looking at anyone with any envy really. Wherever you’re going you want to be competitive and if you can’t get on good rides it’s pointless going.

“We’ll start (the new season) on Monday and try and get winners on the board and try and get that fourth championship. I don’t have many years left to ride, so we’ll keep rolling on for as many years as I can. I’m 38 in June so hitting 40 isn’t too far away – it doesn’t feel like any time at all since I moved here in 2005, it’s gone that quickly.

“We’ll start off the new season on Monday and try and ride as many winners as we can. When you get to the 40 mark you’re into ‘who knows?’ territory. There’s not many Jump jockeys who go on too far past that age, whereas on the Flat they go to 50. I just don’t want to take anything for granted.”

Meanwhile, Hughes revealed that his wife Lucy has started a yard at their home for injured horses or horses on break, though he stressed that it was highly unlikely to be a gateway into a training career.

He continued: “The weather was fairly frustrating but it was the same for everyone. The year previously we didn’t really have any hold-ups. Luckily we have plenty to do at home now (when there’s no racing on), which keeps me occupied. If I didn’t have that I’d be fairly difficult to live with!

“I’ve got two children but we’ve got a yard at home now, so it keeps us entertained when I have nothing to do – whether I want it or I don’t want it! My wife has set up a yard just to look after horses that are injured or are on breaks and things like that.

“It’s mainly for Donald (McCain) and Kevin Ryan but we have a few other clients as well that support us. Over the winter we had 25 in which was enough but we’ve probably got 16 in our care at the moment. Lucy runs it but I help out and stuff - I do as little as I can!

“Training is absolutely no the idea at all behind the yard. My wife was a school teacher and she was getting fairly fed up with that. This is her gig, I’m merely there to help out. There will never ever be a Brian Hughes trainer - I don’t fancy that!”

Morgan full of praise for boss Ben Pauling

Luca Morgan has revealed that he’s ready to kick on and take on the established members of the weighing room next season, on being crowned Champion Conditional Jockey for the 2022-23 campaign at Sandown Park.

The 21 year old is a conditional jockey for Gloucestershire-based trainer Ben Pauling and together the pair have enjoyed a season to remember, with Morgan riding 45 winners to date – 15 clear of his nearest rival Harry Kimber.

Morgan’s tally is more than twice than his previous best of 22 and he credited his dream campaign to trainer Pauling, who has enjoyed an impressive upturn in form since moving to his new yard at Naunton Downs Golf Club last April.

Speaking at last week’s April Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse, Morgan said: “It’s been a massive season. Ben (Pauling) moved to the new yard in the summer and we had a flyer. I sort of got caught up in it and it kind of just kept on going into the winter.

“Ben has done such a marvellous job in the new yard training them and they just kept rolling, I got carried along with it and thankfully I managed to ride lots of winners.

“I suppose it was never something that I thought I would achieve. I don’t do the really light weights or anything like that so I’ve never had a lot of rides and I’ve never ridden a lot of winners. The horses have been running so well that I’ve just been able to capitalise on it.

“I said to Ben around August time that I was fancying it as a joke more than anything and he just said that if I worked hard and kept committed that he would push me as far as he could with it. He stuck to his word and it has really paid off thankfully.

“It’s a massive thing for me. It’s never something that I ever thought I’d actually go and achieve, but when I started out as a 16 year old it was something that I dreamed of doing. I’m just delighted to have got there and I’ve got a lot of people to thank.

“The way I’ve been managed by Ben has just been ideal for where I am now. In our first year – and Ben won’t mind me saying this – the horses were just not running well.

“I think I went about 50 rides without a winner at one point, but it meant I kept hold of my claim for a long time. He just had a bad year but thankfully now he’s got the horses firing and thanks to Ben’s tutoring I’m still going from strength to strength.

“I’ve had a few highlights. I’ve ridden a couple of winners at Cheltenham this year (on the Kerry Lee-trained Black Poppy at The April Meeting, the Michael Scudamore-trained Mofasa at The Showcase and the Ben Pauling-trained Fiercely Proud on New Year’s Day), which were great days.

“One of those was Michael Scudamore who’s been really good to me this season and hopefully it’s just the start of what proves to be a few new relationships.”

Morgan’s crowning today will see him join a host of notable names to have won the title this century, including the likes of Jamie Moore, Paddy Brennan, Brian Hughes, Aidan Coleman, Sam Twiston-Davies, Sean Bowen and Harry Cobden to name just a few.

And having ridden out his claim in January, he will start next season on the same terms as his professional colleagues. However, when asked about his goals for the future, he stressed that he feels he is more than ready for the challenge.

He said: “I just want to establish myself and to build on what I’ve done this year next season. It’s going to be hard as I’ve got not claim to work with from the word go, but I’ll give it my best shot.

“I did quite a few seasons point-to-pointing and learned loads there and then I turned conditional for a season. Then I moved up to Ben’s yard and that’s when it got more serious and things started getting a bit better for me. I’ve had the odd ride for Nicky Henderson and a few others, but I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that without Ben.

“I lost my claim in January and it actually hasn’t been too different to be honest, but that’s kind of where Ben comes into it as he’s really looked after me. I feel that I’m ready to ride against the professionals and I think Ben feels like that as well.”

Following in Luca’s footsteps is his 18 year old brother Beau Morgan, who is also a conditional at Pauling’s yard. And although the two certainly have the kind of rivalry you’d expect between brothers, Luca revealed that he was hopeful his little brother could follow in his footsteps.

Speaking at a press conference arranged by Great British Racing on Wednesday afternoon, he said: “I got into horses from a young age and I was just interested in having riding lessons from when I was quite small. My mum and dad were really supportive and got me my first pony and then I went into the pony racing. Once I’d started pony racing that was that.

“We grew up in the countryside and I’d always see horses going by the car when going home from school and things like that. I must have just fancied it for whatever reason, so I started having lessons and never stopped. Beau used to take the mick and I never thought he’d get on a horse, but now look at him!

“My brother Beau started racing quite late, probably when he was about 14. He used to take the mick out of me for riding horses at first. We had a little hunter at home and he had a little spin on her one day at 14 and he learned to ride in about 10 minutes!

“Next thing you know he’s wanting to come and ride out and things and now he’s at Ben’s doing what I was doing a few years ago. If he could do what I did it would be great.

“Me and Beau are quite competitive. We haven’t ridden against each other much just yet, but we did on Monday at Kempton. He was second and I was fourth, so he’s winning at the moment. I’m sure I’ll ride against him soon enough and put that record straight. I’d say he loved it as he hasn’t shut up about it since! That was on Monday and it’s Wednesday now, so hopefully by tomorrow he’s moved on.”