Brian Hughes, the champion jockey and one Tom held in their highest of regards, interviewing him on many occasion for The Yorkshire Post, won the Tom Richmond Memorial Handicap Hurdle on Caius Marcius.

Tom died suddenly on March 31 of this year, leaving friends and colleagues shocked and saddened.

His death was felt deeply throughout the racing community, given his passion for the sport of kings, his honest, insightful and reliable reporting of the many stories from within racing, and his friendship with its numerous characters; from owners to stable hands.

Lizzie Richmond, third from the left, and former colleagues of Tom Richmond at the bench that bears a plaque in his name.

Wednesday was a day to honour Tom at Wetherby, with the memorial race in his name and the unveiling of a bench outside the weighing room, where he could often be found during meetings.

Tom’s sister Lizzie awarded the trophy to the winning owners, Mr C P Norbury and Tarzan Bloodstock, while the commemorative messages from the likes of course announcer and former jockey Adele Mulrennan and course chief executive Jonjo Sanderson were delivered with great warmth and fondness for their old friend.

It was an entertaining opening meeting of the season, played out in front of a healthy crowd and under leaden skies. How Sanderson and his Wetherby team would have wished those skies had emptied in the days leading up to the meeting, the lack of rain after a dry summer meaning there were a number of runners who pulled out of the seven races.

Marcius was the favourite for the Tom Richmond Memorial Handicap Hurdle, and had allowed 13-year-old veteran Kansas City Chief to make the running in the three-mile race before chasing down the leaders and powering for home from 100 yards out.

It was Hughes’ second win of the meeting.

Tom Richmond Memorial Handicap at Wetherby has fitting winner in champion jockey Brian Hughes