the-bet-9ja-promo-code-2026-is-yohaig

Nicky Richards reached a noteworthy landmark when Jehol De Thaix offered him the 1,000 th winner of his profession in the opener at Newcastle on Tuesday.

The 5-2 chance overcame some sketchy jumping to hold off Nosy Neighbour in the 2m6f beginner handicap difficulty under Danny McMenamin

The Cumbria-based handler had been stuck on 999 winners for 18 days since Jamesieconn scored at Doncaster on March 13 since when he had actually saddled 18 runners.

His last three runners had been pulled up and he said: "It's excellent to lastly get the monkey off my back and get to the 1,000 as we've waited long enough.

"Danny drew my attention to the truth we were surrounding the landmark when we in the cars and truck one day a few months back and he was looking at his iPad as he does the majority of the time and and I think we were 16 short then."

McMenamin informed Sky Sports Racing: "It's an honour and an opportunity to ride Nicky's 1,000 winner. I have actually been with him from the start and its a fantastic achievement. Nicky got a letter today from somebody congratulating him on reaching the 1,000 which was a bit early but I said to him that we 'd get it today."

Richards rapidly moved on to 1,001 winners later the card when Smokeringinthedark landed the 2m4 1/2 f handicap difficulty to provide him a double and McMenamin a treble as the jockey likewise won the 2m7 1/2 f amateur handicap chase on Aill Dubh.

He has been training since 1998, when he took control of the licence on the death of his double Grand National-winning dad Gordon.

His very first winner came at Carlisle, where he took a two-runner race with Better Times Ahead - a chaser who had actually formerly led Gordon Richards' funeral cortege. His most prolific season was 2006-07, when he won 64 races, including two Grade 1s with elite chaser Monet's Garden.

Turpin Green completed third in the Gold Cup for him that season and other great horses he has actually trained include Scottish Grand National winner Takingrisks, double Grade 1 scorer Simply Ned and Anglers Crag, who landed the Eider Chase at Newcastle last month.

Three of the very best Nicky Richards horses

Monet's Garden

This dashing grey was not simply among Nicky Richards' biggest horses however likewise among the finest chasers trained in the north this century.

He was an excellent winner of the Grade 1 Ascot Chase in 2007 and 2010 and the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon in 2008, but it was his exploits at Aintree that truly made his name.

Monet's Garden won there five times in overall, taking the Old Roan Chase and Melling Chase two times each. Those were amongst 17 wins for a horse who earned ₤ 683,000 and has a bar called in his honour at Carlisle.

Simply Ned

The elite two-mile chaser won 8 times in Britain however his 2 finest days was available in Ireland.

He was obstructed on the confrontation when a close second in a Grade 1 race at Leopardstown's Christmas conference in 2017 and granted the race at a query. But he needed no help from the stewards 12 months later on when he took the very same race totally on benefit, leading close home under Mark Walsh.

Takingrisks

Richards has yet to imitate his father by winning the Grand National but he landed the Scottish variation with a 25-1 shot who made it through a bad error at the first fence to score by a decisive 4 lengths at Ayr in 2019.

The doughty stayer likewise took the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle that year and was nursed back to form to spring a 40-1 surprise in the Great Yorkshire Chase at the age of 12 at Doncaster in 2021.

Nicky Richards' 1,000 wins as trainer:

986 British jumps

11 British Flat

3 Irish jumps

Nicky Richards CV

Full name Nicholas Gordon Richards

Born February 25, 1956

Father Gordon Richards (1930-98), trainer of Titus Oates, Lucius, Hallo Dandy, One Man

Career as amateur rider 39 wins 1971-75; finest winners The Spaniard (Fred Withington Chase), Titus Oates, Canadius (Princess Royal Hurdle); champion amateur on Flat 1973 (5 wins)

Assistant to Gordon Richards, Greystoke, near Penrith, Cumbria

Stables as fitness instructor Rectory Farm, Greystoke, near Penrith, Cumbria since 1998

First winner as trainer Better Times Ahead (ridden by Tony Dobbin) handicap chase, Carlisle, October 9, 1998

First big-race winner Feels Like Gold (1999 Becher Chase)

Melling Chase winner Monet's Garden (2007 )

Ascot Chase winner Monet's Garden (2007, 2010)

Old Roan Chase winner Monet's Garden (2007 (beat Kauto Star), 2009, 2010)

Peterborough Chase winner Monet's Garden (2008 )

Paddy's Rewards Club Chase winner Simply Ned (2017, 2018)

Scottish Grand National winner Takingrisks (2019 )

Caspian Caviar (December) Gold Cup winner Guitar Pete (2017 )

Sky Bet Chase winner Takingrisks (2021 )

Fighting Fifth Hurdle winner The French Furze (2003 )

Liverpool Hurdle winner Monet's Garden (2005 )

Ascot Hurdle winner Monet's Garden (2004 )

Scottish Champion Hurdle winner Noble Alan (2009 )

Mersey Novices' Hurdle winner Turpin Green (2005 )

Anniversary 4-Y-O Hurdle winner Faasel (2005 )

Placed in Cheltenham Gold Cup Turpin Green (3rd to Kauto Star, 2007)

Pattern-race treble Aintree, April 7, 2005 (Monet's Garden, Faasel, Turpin Green)

Highest-rated horses (RPRs) 168 Turpin Green, 167 Monet's Garden, 164 Eduard, 164 Simply Ned, 157 Faasel

Most respected Grade 1 winner Monet's Garden (3 )

Grade 1 wins 6

Highest position in fitness instructors' champion tenth in 2005-06 and 2006-07

Most wins in a season 64 in 2006-07

1,000 th winner Jehol De Thaix, Newcastle, March 31, 2026

Compiled by John Randall

'I've still got the fire in me' - why it will take more than a brush with death to stop Nicky Richards