Jockey Richard Hughes says he is “comfortable with the decision” to retire at
the end of the Goodwood Festival on August 1.
The three-time champion jockey announced earlier in the
year this would be his final season, but the 42-year-old has now decided to hang
up his saddle earlier than had been anticipated.
Hughes is poised to embark upon a training career as early
as the autumn, and admitted the demands of preparing for his new vocation,
allied to performing to his best on a racetrack, hastened the decision to move
forward his retirement plans.
“I’ve always given 100 percent in
everything I’ve done and I don’t want to stop doing that now,” Hughes told Press
Association Sport. “To be a champion
jockey and to be successful you have to be totally committed. It’s become clear
in the last two weeks that I’ve realized what that (training) will entail.
“I
always knew this was going to be my last year, and I’m comfortable with the
decision (to retire after Goodwood). Whenever I was going to retire I was always
going to miss out on riding good horses. Now is the time.”
In a related matter, Betfair Sportsbook have decided to
refund all bets placed on Hughes for the 2015 British Flat Jockey Championship.
The firm now has Silvestre de Sousa the 1-4 favorite ahead of James Doyle in
second on 6-1.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com