Jump Jockey’s Championship contender Brian Hughes passes landmark 150 winners mark

Hughes, 36, won the final race of the card at Carlisle with the Donald McCain-trained Maximilian to mark his fourth winner of the day, from just seven rides, and his 150th of the season.

On riding his 150th winner, Hughes said: “It has always been my ambition to ride 150 winners and hopefully if I can stay fit and well, I could be champion jockey. Although people are saying that is in the bag, I am not going to count my chickens.

“It is sport and anything can happen yet.

“If we were going into April, it might be mathematically impossible for the gap to close but there is a long way in the Championship to go.

“Every year I ride the same. Every day I ride with the same hunger, I can’t be too complacent. My agent would love to get us to 200 winners for the season.

“I suppose it is possible, but I would need a lot of luck and for the horses to be in a similar form as they have been.

“It would be great to have a Cheltenham Festival or Aintree winner too. If I can stay healthy and achieve one of these too it would be a fantastic end to the season.”

Hughes was pipped by Harry Skelton in last season’s title race in the final week, after lifting his first champion jockey crown in 2019/20.

Remarkably, it is also the first time Hughes has ever had 150 winners in a season, with his previous best of 146 coming in 2018/19.