Paul Hanagan back on top 10 years after champion jockey glory

Ashen-faced, he was so spent that he could barely carry his saddle – or raise his arms in half-hearted triumph – after his epic title duel with rival Richard Hughes went to the penultimate race of the 2010 season.

“I wouldn’t recognise myself in some of the pictures,” he told The Yorkshire Post in an exclusive interview to mark the anniversary of the first of successive championships.

“It’s awful what I put myself through. A lot of people didn’t get what me and Hughesie did that year. It was just bonkers.”

Fast forward a decade and the Malton-based jockey – now an adopted Yorkshireman since moving here from his native Merseyside as a raw teenage apprentice – is enjoying his riding more than ever.

Free from the pressure of chasing titles, or proving himself to demanding connections, the relaxed 40-year-old recorded his landmark 2,000th winner when Michael Herrington’s Anif surged to victory at Newcastle on Tuesday night under a trademark power-packed drive.

In a twist of fate, this was the track where Hanagan broke his back in a horror fall in February and suffered such serious injuries that he feared that he would never ride again – he likened his luck to “the flick of a coin” and says he’s now fortunate to feel little, if any, discomfort.

It was also one of the most satisfying of his 2,000 wins. Even with no crowds present on a penetratingly cold North East night, he welled up with personal pride as he returned to the desolate winners’ enclosure and the certain knowledge that the landmark meant the world to his family and all those who’ve supported him for nearly 25 years.

His mobile phone soon went into meltdown with congratulatory messages. “I was chuffed to bits,” said Hanagan, whose CV includes Classics and Group One wins.

“If someone said when I first started that I would ride 2,000 winners, I don’t think I would have believed them. I might have thought it – but doing it is something else.”

Hanagan believes he’s never been fitter or stronger – he’s put on weight – since his horror fall. “It’s been the toughest time of my life, some very dark days”.

He credits the NHS and fitness team at Jack Berry House, the Injured Jockeys Fund Centre who, along with Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, were the beneficiaries of his riding fees, and prize money, as his title struggle reached its climax.

But, tellingly, he believes the 2010 title tussle – his defining moment – gave him the willpower to withstand this year’s torment. Written off before the start, Hanagan rode four winners at Doncaster’s season-opening meeting, a double the following day and was in full title mode for the rest of that year.

He was 22 winners clear of Hughes as the campaign wound down before his rival sensed weakness and weariness.

“It was the pressure I was putting on myself,” recalls Hanagan. “I didn’t want to let anyone down because I was so far clear. I knew everyone had gone to such great lengths to support me.

“Even the thought of it now sends shivers down my spine. It could have gone either way. Imagine getting done on the last day. I don’t know how I would have taken it.”

This battle was also fought in the public limelight – Hanagan, a hardworking journeyman jockey until that year, against Hughes, one of the most respected riders, and another gentleman to boot.

With two days to go, Hughes had closed to within one, and was expected to draw level, before Hanagan found hidden reserves of courage to beat his rival in Kempton’s late-night finale and restore his lead to two. He can’t remember the horse or trainer, but recalls the race “like yesterday”.

Both went head-to-head on the penultimate day at Southwell and Wolverhampton, Hanagan questioning his sanity as he flew by helicopter to the West Midlands track, and saw him lead by 191-189 winners heading into Doncaster’s finale after a 223-day campaign encompassing 100,000 miles and over 1,100 rides.

Ultimately, both men drew a blank on a day of unremitting tension and the moment of triumph came in the penultimate race when Hanagan’s eighth-place finish on Tepmokea left him out of reach of Hughes who was back in 18th on the favourite Senate.

There was a tearful embrace with his wife Anna. Words did not need to be spoken and a snatched bear-hug with his father Geoff, a one-time rider: “Son, we’re so proud of you.”

And surprise on Hanagan’s part that so many childhood friends had come to see him become the third Northern-based rider in 105 years to become champion.

As he reached the weighing room, a little voice shouted out ‘Daddy’ as Hanagan’s eldest son Josh, then four, jumped into the champion’s arms, while his youngest Sam – then one – looked on in bemusement.

Hanagan went through similar agonies 12 months later when he saw off Silvestre de Sousa on the final day of the season.

Yet, as Oisin Murphy and William Buick have criss-crossed Britain in this year’s championship which will end today narrowly in the former’s favour, Hanagan fervently believes the one meeting a day rule – introduced as a Covid health check – should become permanent and cut down on the travelling. He also says the title race will be more competitive.

He recalls riding out several lots each morning for Richard Fahey, his friend and mentor, rushing across the Pennines to Haydock for several rides and then hurtling up the M6 to an evening meeting at Carlisle before heading home to do it all over again the next day. His diet then largely consisted of cigarettes – and not much else.

Fortunate to have the backing of Fahey, and longstanding agent Richard Hale, Hanagan shudders at the risks he took. “It was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt doing two meetings. Or worse,” he says with quiet emphasis. “I’ve been there myself, doing crazy stuff to get there (racecourse) with one minute to spare. I know it is your job but it is only horse race – it’s dangerous enough without you risking your life getting there.”

But, as he looks back on the title race, Hanagan also knows it was the making of him and that this epic achievement gave him the resilience to return to the saddle and then go on to ride his 2,000th winner.

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