BLIND faith is not the most reliable method of selecting winners. However, following Brian Hughes every time he rides at Musselburgh this season has proven to be a safe enough strategy.
The Irishman has a 27 per cent strike rate at the track although he is quick to point out that “being on good horses” helps. Hughes’ cause has been boosted since he became first jockey to the Donald McCain stable in the spring but he still maintains contacts with the other trainers he has ridden for.
That should ensure that he gets a good ride for the Betway Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle on Tuesday which, with nearly £20,000 to the winner, will mean someone has a happy New Year.
McCain has two entered for the race including Val Mome who was beaten only by a nose at Musselburgh last month on his first run back after a breathing operation.
“He’s won his novice and then he was second in a novice handicap,” Hughes said. “He ran really well but it’s a big step up for him.”
Chica Buena has been taking big steps up for the past three months. She had looked moderate at best on the Flat in Ireland and not a lot better over hurdles until winning her first race, at the sixth attempt, at Ballinrobe in September.
The filly then moved to Keith Dalgleish and has won her first three starts for her new yard, starting off at Sedgefield and Musselburgh before Dalgleish ran her in a Listed race at Aintree where she won by 23 lengths.
“She’s improved massively since she’s gone to Keith,” Hughes said. “At Aintree she jumped really well and just kept on going, It was tacky ground but it didn’t stop her. And she gets a 12lb allowance in this race as well.”
It was the weight of expectation that Hughes may have felt when he rode Waiting Patiently in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
This is the horse whom Hughes admits “comes before everything” in his plans. But those plans, and the chance to find out if the borders of Waiting Patiently’s prodigious talents could be stretched to three miles, were brought to a shuddering halt.
Hughes had kept his horse at the rear of the field but then Bristol de Mai fell at the ninth fence and Waiting Patiently was left with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as the two horses became a tangle of legs.
“I was down the middle, just trying to keep out of the way,” Hughes said. “I didn’t think that the horses immediately in front of me were jumping particularly well so I was trying to keep out of the way. My horse is a very fast jumper and he’s winged the fence and, as I’m in mid air, I can see Bristol de Mai laying on the floor. How he stayed on his feet, I don’t know how, but I had no chance of staying on.
“It’s like I was on the inside lane and somebody on the overtaking lane just wipes you out. And there’s just nowhere to go.”
The force with which Hughes thumped the turf with his fist would probably have decked Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua in one hit. The one saving mercy as he started the four-hour drive back to his home in North Yorkshire was that Waiting Patiently was in the horsebox back to Ruth Jefferson’s yard.
“The speed we were going at, a horse can get hurt like that,” Hughes said, as his voice trailed away for a moment. “Honestly, I’d probably never have got over it if he’d been hurt. After my family, that horse means everything to me.”
Hughes may still be none the wiser over stamina but he has no doubts about Waiting Patiently’s class.
“Two of the jockeys said it was like Champion Chase pace down to the first two fences. But it didn’t feel like I was going quick. To me, I thought I was still in first gear. That’s how much speed this horse has. And he relaxes really well so he’ll give himself a great chance of getting three miles.”
And Hughes is definitely keeping the faith.
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