Hughes to retire after Goodwood Richard Hughes says he is "comfortable with the decision" to retire at the end of the Qatar Goodwood Festival on August 1. The three-times champion jockey announced earlier in the year this would be his final season, but the 42-year-old has now decided to hang up his saddle earlier than had been anticipated. Hughes is poised to embark upon a training career as early as the autumn, and admitted the demands of preparing for his new vocation, allied to performing to his best on a racetrack, hastened the decision to move forward his retirement plans. He told Press Association Sport: "I've always given 100 per cent in everything I've done and I don't want to stop doing that now. "To be a champion jockey and to be successful you have to be totally committed. "It's become clear in the last two weeks that I've realised what that (training) will entail. "I always knew this was going to be my last year, and I'm comfortable with the decision (to retire after Goodwood). "Whenever I was going to retire I was always going to miss out on riding good horses. "Now is the time."
