Hughes extends title lead

Brian Hughes stretched his lead over the injured Richard Johnson to four in the National Hunt jockeys’ championship at Wetherby — but is adamant his title bid is “by no means an open goal”.

Charmant’s 23-length win, at odds of 16-1, in the Follow At RacingTV On Twitter Handicap Chase took Hughes to 115 for the season.

Johnson, champion in each of the last four years, is on the sidelines after breaking his arm in a fall at Exeter on Tuesday — and Hughes’ other nearest challenger Sam Twiston-Davies trails by 29.

Hughes nonetheless said: “This is by no means an open goal. I have to stay in one piece — and Richard Johnson will be back.

“As he’s shown in other years, he’s a determined man.”

Should Hughes prevail at the end of April, he will become the first northern-based winner of the title since Jonjo O’Neill in 1979-80. He is wary of the pitfalls of jump racing, however.

“What happened to Richard Johnson proves what a jump jockey lives with day to day — you’re only one fall away from your season being over,” he said.

“One minute you’re up, the next you’re down.

“Don’t get me wrong — I’d absolutely love it (to win the title).

“But it’s by no means a foregone conclusion. You try not to put it at the forefront of your mind — something that then clouds your judgement.”

He admitted, after James Ewart’s Charmant was left clear by The Paddy Pie’s unlucky fall at the third-last, that his judgement was momentarily awry at the next fence, where his partner made the necessary adjustment.

“That was jockey error — I went and squeezed him for something that wasn’t there,” he said.

“Luckily he’s cleverer than me! I left him alone at the last.”