For any National Hunt trainer, their first runner at the Cheltenham Festival is steeped in significance, a moment to anticipate and cherish. To go there after little more than three months with a licence, and with a serious contender in one of the feature events, is possibly unique. Yet for Sandra Hughes, the excitement of saddling Lieutenant Colonel before the World Hurdle next Thursday will mingle with a sense of sadness and loss, one which will be understood and shared by many of those racegoers crowding around the paddock.
Dessie Hughes, Sandra’s father, who died in November, earned both the admiration and affection of jump-racing fans during a 52-year career, first as a jockey and then as a trainer. One of the few to win major races at Cheltenham in both roles, he steered the outstanding Monksfield – for many, the best hurdler there has been – to victory in the 1979 Champion Hurdle, and returned as a trainer a quarter of a century later to win the same race twice with Hardy Eustace. He won a Gold Cup in the saddle too on Davy Lad in 1977, while his wisdom and encouragement set his son Richard on a path that would one day see him become Flat racing’s champion jockey.
Sandra Hughes took over her father’s licence at the family’s stable near The Curragh, initially on a temporary basis, following his death on 16 November and has since confirmed that the move will become permanent when the new jumps season begins in May. She expects to saddle at least four horses at Cheltenham next week, including Lieutenant Colonel in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, the main race on Thursday’s card, and could have as many as half a dozen starters at her first Cheltenham in charge.
“In one way, I can’t wait to go to see the horses running,” Hughes said this week. “Cheltenham is always a very special time for us as a family, but this year it is going to be difficult for us all. Dad was always there and it was always a huge part of his life.
“I didn’t realise I suppose how much [he was loved and respected in racing] because he was my dad and that was the way we felt about him, but it was overwhelming the response that we got when he died. He was very successful in both fields, he was a brilliant jockey and then a fantastic trainer and there’s not many that can do that. But he had the temperament to do it, it takes a certain kind of man to be good at both things.
“Although we had been running things for dad during his illness, being left on my own was a totally different ball game, so it was and still is very daunting. But all we can do is just keep working hard, keep our heads down and hope that we keep producing the results. That’s what this game is all about and I’m very mindful of that.”
The yard’s owners supported Hughes in her decision to take over as the licensed trainer, including Michael O’Leary, Ireland’s leading owner this season. His faith has already been rewarded with two Grade One wins for Lieutenant Colonel, first at Fairyhouse in late November and then at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.
Many trainers wait years for their first Grade One success, and more never manage to secure a win at the highest level at all. It is much the same at Cheltenham, where the competition is so intense that even a dual Grade One winner like Lieutenant Colonel could well start at a double-figure price.
“He’s probably my best chance of all of our runners,” Hughes says. “He’s in very good form and deserves to take his chance on his Irish form, but it’s a hot race, very competitive and open. Thunder And Roses will run in the National Hunt Chase [on the opening day] and then we’ll have Apache Jack in the [Grade One] RSA [Chase on Wednesday] and The Tullow Tank runs in the JLT [Chase, also Grade One, on Thursday]. I’m hoping that they will all run very good races, but to have a winner is something I can’t even dream about. I’ve a fantastic staff here, Rob Hennessy is my head lad and he’s doing a wonderful job, and everything has carried on exactly as it would have done if dad were here. We have a system in place and everything is done correctly at all times. It’s just carried on and they are a credit to dad and I’m very lucky to have them behind me.”
Dessie Hughes, unlike so many in racing, had no background in the sport, and his daughter is keenly aware of her father’s legacy as she sets out on her own training career.
“From the time he was three or four years of age, he just wanted to be a jockey, but there were no horses or racing where he came from in Dublin city,” Hughes says. “He used to wait to go down to his aunt’s house in Wexford where I think there was a farmer who lived up the road who had a cart horse, and he waited all day to ride him. That was how he spent his summers.
“I really didn’t think I was going to be doing this for at least another 10 or 15 years, but unfortunately it came all too soon for us. But we’re extremely lucky and we’re carrying on. All I want to do every day is make dad still proud of me and carry on his legacy here as well as I can.”
