I’LL WIN IT FOR DAD!
Sandra has big chance to score for late father Dessie
THE cheer for an AP McCoyridden winner this week might be loud but the decibel level could be matched if a runner trained by Sandra Hughes reaches the winner’s enclosure. And today might be that day as the Hughestrained Lieutenant Colonel is 8-1 third favourite for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, while The Tullow Tank is no forlorn hope in the opening JLT Novices’ Chase.
Both will also carry a wave of sentimental support from the Cheltenham crowd as Hughes took over the family stables close to the Curragh after her father, Dessie, lost his fight against cancer in November.
A Festival legend, Dessie’s eight wins as a jockey included the 1977 Gold Cup on Davy Lad and the 1979 Champion Hurdle on Monksfield.
They were matched by eight winners as a trainer, headed by the back-toback Champion Hurdle victories of Hardy Eustace in 2004 and 2005.
Appropriately, the track have named the prize for this week’s top trainer in Dessie’s honour. It is a tribute that the Hughes family appreciate but securing a winner with what Sandra refers to as ‘dad’s horses’ would be even more special.
Hughes, whose Thunder And Roses unseated its jockey in the NH Chase on Tuesday, said: ‘It is great to get dad’s horses here because that is what he would have wanted. He just loved Cheltenham. Everything he did each season was working towards it, so to be honoured is lovely.
‘We always came as a family so it is quite tough not having him here, but I feel he is looking down on me. And to see the warmth and the love people had for him was genuinely overwhelming. There is a big contingent over with us, the usual crew. The head of the ship is missing but we are here to make him proud.’
With Sandra this week is Dessie’s
widow, Eileen, and his son, Richard, the three-time Flat racing champion jockey who last week announced he will be setting up training in Britain next year.
But it was always the plan that Sandra would take the helm at her father’s stable. She said: ‘I thought it would be in 10 or 15 years’ time. I never realised it would be this quick. But things happen and you just have to get on with it. Our whole life revolved around putting the horses first and that is what we had to do.
‘Me and Richard are very close. It is great to have him for advice, even if it is at the end of a phone call. Thankfully, I inherited a fabulous team of horses and a fabulous staff and it is working so far.’
The hand of Dessie is also very much behind the path steered by Lieutenant Colonel this season. He had always wanted a six-year-old he felt was some way off maturity to have another season over hurdles so, after he was beaten in his first steeplechase at Naas in November, Sandra was delighted when his owners, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and his racing manager brother Eddie, suggested he switch back to the smaller obstacles.
It has been a highly successful decision with two Grade One wins snapped up — the Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse a few days after Dessie died and the Christmas Hurdle in December, beating Jessica Harrington’s Jetson on both occasions.
Sandra added: ‘He ran in a beginners chase and he was a little bit disappointing but it was always dad’s plan to keep him over hurdles for an extra year. He thought it would make a man of him.
‘So I was delighted when Eddie and Michael suggested going back over hurdles again, and Plan A kicked in again. It was what dad wanted.’
Hughes fits first-time cheekpieces on Lieutenant Colonel, who will be ridden by Bryan Cooper, and is also optimistic The Tullow Tank will run well.
‘I am very happy with him. His jumping has been a little bit of an issue but he jumped well at Leopardstown last time and we feel we have him spot on. This was the race he was trained for all year so hopefully we will get it right.’