End of an era

It would be wrong to let today end without remarking on the main news in today's Racing Post: the forthcoming retirement of Richard Hills at the end of a career which has seen him ride many champions and win all the Classics bar the Derby (in which the best he managed was second on Sakhee in 2000, beaten only by Sinndar). 49 is a great age to reach still as a professional jockey, and to do it as Richard as done - ie still riding extremely well - is remarkable. He will hang up his boots after the Dubai World Cup, a race which he won in 1999 on Almutawakel, and will, I hope, enjoy a long and fulfilling, not to mention well-earned, retirement - although I'm sure that he'll find a worthwhile way of filling the time productively. I am aware that those who believe that the great jockeys are those who look particularly "strong" in the final furlong (whatever that means) have never put Richard at the top of their lists, but he's long been at the top of mine. For consistent professionalism and thorough preparation, for tactical acumen and judgement of pace, for well-balanced and sympathetic riding, for all-round level-headedness and decency, and for consistent excellence over a long period, Richard has been hard to top. He'll obviously be best remembered for wearing Sheikh Hamdan's colours (as shown here at Yarmouth last year) but I'll always think of him in the red and white livery of the Premier Cru, for whom he gave Jack Dawson an outstanding ride to win an 18-runner two-mile handicap at Chester one day. I think that Richard retires with a 100% record for this stable as I don't think that he ever rode for us again, but that certainly wasn't for want of effort to book him on my part. In fact, he'd have ridden Ethics Girl at Warwick last September had he not had to leave the track before her race to get to Windsor for Sheikh Hamdan, and I'd always have been more than happy to have him on board any time. The ranks of British jockeys genuinely will be poorer for his absence.