No Half Measures Pulls Off Shock in July Cup
Hughes Savours Elation After Landmark Group One Triumph
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Newmarket,UK – Trainer Richard Hughes savoured a career-defining moment as his charge,No Half Measures,clinched a maiden group One victory at Newmarket Racecourse on Saturday. The emotional win marked a significant milestone for Hughes, who transitioned from a celebrated jockey to a trainer, finally shedding the “monkey off his back” with this prestigious success.
A Rollercoaster Ride to the Top
The former champion jockey, who rode the July Cup winner in the past, expressed the profound emotional impact of training a Group One winner. “I’ve just got a bear hug off William Buick and he’s cut my lip!” Hughes exclaimed, still buzzing from the victory. “It’s brilliant.disappointments when you’re training are very hard and the highs don’t meet the lows.”
Hughes candidly reflected on the inherent volatility of the racing industry. “It’s an up and down game, but I’m coping better with it now than I used to. It’s been a tough enough ride to get to here, but I’m definitely appreciating more now than when I started.” He drew a stark contrast between his riding and training careers, admitting a lack of recognition for the quality of horses he rode during his jockey days. “I didn’t appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job – I was privileged to be riding good horses every year.”
The Challenges of Training
The transition to training has presented Hughes with a new set of challenges, particularly regarding the scarcity of top-class talent. “We get a good horse through the yard now and again and I’m trying to mind it like a baby and I’m watching it every day in case it goes wrong as you probably only have one or two bullets,” he explained. “in Hannon’s,if one broke you’d get on another one next day or I’d get another ride.There was a flow of horses and I found it very easy.”
Hughes admitted to a degree of naivety when he first embarked on his training career. “I was a little bit naive when I started training – I thought if I bought 20 horses one of them was going to be good.Then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one.” Despite the increased difficulty,the rewards are far greater. “this is harder, but more rewarding without a doubt.”
A Dream Realised
The Group One victory is a dream realised for Hughes, who can now boast both riding and training a July Cup winner. “I’ve got the monkey off my back that’s for sure and I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that’s really nice,” he stated. While competitive by nature, Hughes acknowledged the dependence on having the right horses. “Of course I want more, it’s my nature as I’m very competitive, but if you don’t have the horses you can’t train them.”
From Handicap to group One Glory
No Half Measures had shown promise, winning a handicap at the same meeting last year before securing Group Three and Listed success.however, Hughes confessed that a Group One triumph was beyond his initial expectations. “She won here last year in a handicap and when Ryan (Moore) got off her I asked him if we’d get a bit of black type and he said ‘she’s better than that’, which is something Ryan never says! He’s a realist, so I was quite surprised by that.”
The plan was to achieve black type, a goal that No Half Measures has surpassed with remarkable enhancement. ”We plotted to get our black type and we got it and she’s done nothing but improve,” Hughes said. The race itself was a nerve-wracking affair for the trainer. “There was very little pressure today really. At halfway I thought she was going OK and then I just held my head because I couldn’t beleive what was happening!”
Hughes admitted that even a place would have been a success. “I just thought if she’s going to get caught she’s going to caught, because they normally do, but I would have been pleased even with second or third, so to win is just a bonus.”
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