Wednesday 2nd August
UK Champion Jump Jockey and Novibet.ie ambassador Brian Hughes looks ahead to his ride on Hewick in the Galway Plate.
It’s great to pick up the ride on Hewick and I’m really looking forward to it. He’s grand horse and while I haven’t ridden him before, his form is very solid and he looks a leading contender.
We all know how competitive a race it is, but he was really good in it last year and it’s just a shame for Jordan Gainford that he isn’t able to ride him.
Shark (Hanlon) tells me he’s in really good form and I guess it’s just whether he’s too high in the weights now. He’s 12 pounds higher than his victory 12 months ago, so it’s not an easy task but we’ll give it a good go.
I’d be a touch concerned if the ground got really bad as he is better on a quicker surface, so hopefully they don’t get all the rain that they are predicting.
I’ve built up a very good relationship with Shark and have ridden plenty for him recently. He’s a great trainer to ride for as he doesn’t give too much in terms of tactics and is happy with you deciding the best way to ride the race. The best chance of winning a race is to put the horse where it’s most comfortable and Shark has always allowed me to do that.
We all know it’s a very competitive race, but it’s a brilliant race to be involved in and to be ridding a horse with a genuine chance is even better.
