Richard Hughes Sets Sights on First Group 1 Success as a Trainer

[Wandering Eyes]

Owner-breeder Jaber Abdullah has a reputation for being one of the shrewdest judges around, but even a man with over three decades of experience in the sport can suffer from a crisis of confidence.

Abdullah himself discovered as much just last month, on the eve of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. There his royal blue silks with white striped sleeves and white cap were carried by the Richard Hughes-trained Sayidah Dariyan, who massively outran odds of 66/1 in finishing fourth, beaten just a length and a quarter, behind Time For Sandals.

If Abdullah had been given his way, however, Sayidah Dariyan wouldn't have taken her chance at all, with the owner being led to believe that she would be out of her depth against the leading three-year-old sprinters in training.

“Jaber rang me the night before and she was 150/1 then,” says Hughes. “He said, 'She's got no chance,' and he didn't want me to run her. I said, 'Boss, I'm running this filly. I really think she's got a good chance.'

“So, I had a very sleepless night when you're putting your neck on the line like that, but I would have been disappointed if she hadn't finished in the first four, to be honest. She didn't let us down and she ran a blinder.”

The initial purchase of Sayidah Dariyan was typical of Abdullah's apparent Midas touch at the sales, a relatively inexpensive buy who has gone on to prove herself at the top level. She follows in the footsteps of horses such as Queen's Logic, Youmzain, Majestic Roi and Music Show, all Group 1 winners whose combined cost is a mere five-figure sum. Hughes himself tasted Group 1 glory aboard Youmzain and Music Show, with it being 15 years this week since the latter won the Falmouth Stakes.

Whilst it was Hughes who struck the winning bid on Sayidah Dariyan when she fetched £35,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, don't think for one second that she passed Abdullah by.

“To be honest, I'd never even heard of Dariyan when I bought this filly,” Hughes says of the late Haras de Bonneval stallion. “I just liked the shape of her and I only had her bought five minutes when Jaber rang me and said, 'I want that one.'

“Our quality seems to have gone up a notch this season and that's largely thanks to Jaber, who has been a great supporter. I've asked him to buy a few horses and he's bought them. Luckily, I'm repaying his faith.”

Certainly, with 39 winners on the board already, Hughes is on track for his most productive season since he saddled his first runners in September 2015, that coming just a matter of weeks after he hung up his riding boots at the conclusion of that year's Qatar Goodwood Festival.

A three-time champion jockey in Britain, Hughes has longed for a place at the very top table in this second career and, as the 10-year anniversary of his final day in the saddle looms, finally there's a feeling in the camp that things are going in the right direction.

Still, that in itself brings more challenges for Hughes, who will have his allegiances pulled in two different directions this weekend, with big-race runners at both Newmarket and York on 'Super Saturday'.

“It is,” Hughes agrees when it's put to him that these are the type of contests that every trainer wants to be involved in. “But then there's a lot of anxiety that comes with it. And you can't be in two places at the one time, which is a shame. I'll probably have to go to Newmarket.”

It's at Newmarket on Saturday that Hughes will try to break his Group 1 duck as a trainer when No Half Measures (Cable Bay) lines up in the July Cup, a race he won so memorably as a jockey when partnering Oasis Dream to victory in 2003. At the time of writing No Half Measures is a general 50/1 shot, despite the fact that she was beaten less than three lengths in last year's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, shortly after her biggest win to date in the G3 World Trophy Stakes at Newbury.

 

No Half Measures shows grit to land the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy Stakes at @NewburyRacing for Ryan Moore and @RHughesracing! pic.twitter.com/EzShOTGSQP

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 21, 2024

 

Owner Richard Gallagher seemingly needed no persuading to have a crack at this Group 1 and, much like he did with Sayidah Dariyan, Hughes warns that it would be a mistake to underestimate his filly in a wide-open division.

“She's as good as any of them and I'd say she should be half those odds,” says the trainer. “She's going to run a big race and I couldn't have her any better. She was a bit unlucky at Haydock [when finishing second in the Listed Achilles Stakes]. There was a track bias that day on the stands rail and she had a penalty. She did everything bar win, if you know what I mean.

“I just wish it was soft ground for the July Cup. We skipped Ascot because of the ground, but we feel Newmarket might just be a better track for her, with a little bit more ease in the ground. And the fact that we're going six [furlongs] on better ground, that will suit her better than five on better ground. She's just on her head over five on quick ground.”

He adds, “She's a really good filly who improved way beyond our expectations last year. Ryan [Moore] won on her at the July Course and, when he got off, he said, 'This is pretty good you know.' I said, 'Will I get a bit of black type?' and he said, 'You'll get better than that.' How right he was.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Whip Cracker (Cracksman) is described as being on a “very dangerous mark” ahead of his run in the John Smith's Cup at York, while Abdullah's Star Of Mehmas (Mehmas) is set to line up in the Listed City Wall Stakes on the same card, having gone close to winning in similar company on her last two starts.

By then, Hughes is hoping he'll already be among the winners, with Sayidah Dariyan appearing to hold leading form claims when she drops back down in grade for Friday's G3 Summer Stakes on the Knavesmire.

“We thought it was the obvious place to go and she only lost three kilos at Ascot, so that really gave me the green light to train her for York,” Hughes explains. “I didn't have to worry that she'd had too hard a race at Ascot.

“I think that was only her third run on grass. She's learning and she's getting stronger. It's a bit of a unique thing sprinting. They have off days, of course they do, but they definitely get better at it the more they race.

“The easier six [furlongs] should suit her as well. I think she's quick enough for five, so the fast six at York should be right up her street.”

Sayidah Dariyan first showcased her top-class potential last year when winning her maiden at Lingfield by 13 lengths, the sort of margin that you rarely see in sprint races of any description. Or at least that's the idea, but then Hughes sent out another two-year-old filly in the Abdullah silks to spreadeagle her rivals at Haydock last week.

America Queen is the horse in question, a daughter of Havana Grey who cost her connections €180,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-up Sale, before winning by 12 lengths when making her debut on Merseyside.

 

Blimey ….

180,000euro breezer (Havana Grey) dazzles on debut in the @BritishEBF fillies' maiden @haydockraces @RHughesracing | @loughnane_billy pic.twitter.com/9TnYep69UP

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 3, 2025

 

“I picked her out [at the breeze-ups],” Hughes remembers. “I was bidding away and then I got cold feet at about 140 grand, so I told Jaber, 'Please, buy this filly for me,' and he did. She's a very racy type and she just looked very genuine and was easy to deal with at the sales. And she came from a very good consignor [Greenhills Farm] which always helps.

“In her routine canters she wouldn't take the eye at all, but she did one nice gallop with Mood Queen. The two of them just went along on the bit, but the fact that it was hard to split them on the bridle told me that she'd be good enough to win [at Haydock].”

He adds, “She probably is good. She came from the breeze-ups and we thought she'd probably win if she did everything the right way round. But we didn't foresee anything like that happening, to be honest.”

Next on the agenda for America Queen is the G2 Lowther Stakes at York's Ebor Festival, a race Abdullah has already won on five occasions this century, with the great Queen's Logic getting the ball rolling back in 2001.

Time will tell whether this filly has the ability to add her name to that illustrious roll of honour but, in the meantime, Hughes is bullish about the prospects of Queen's Logic's granddaughter, Mood Queen (Kodiac), when she lines up in Friday's G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes over the same course and distance as her recent maiden victory.

Abdullah's homebred is the first foal out of the dual winner Baby Alya (Rio De La Plata), a three-parts sister to another Lowther scorer in Lady Of The Desert (Rahy), a filly Hughes later partnered to victory in the G2 Diadem Stakes. For good measure, Lady Of The Desert herself was responsible for Abdullah's latest Lowther heroine, Queen Kindly (Frankel).

“It's a great family and we like Mood Queen a lot,” adds Hughes. “She moves beautifully and she's getting better. She's just a real nice two-year-old.

“I was quite surprised that Karl Burke is running his filly [Venetian Sun]. I thought when I made the entry that we'd have the best filly in the race, so I've got to get back in my box now! She's a very good filly and I respect her hugely.

“But Mood Queen won at Newmarket, and you haven't seen the best of her yet, so she'll have to perform well to beat us, Karl's filly – I think we'll give her a good run for it.”

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