Richard Hills (born 22 January 1963) is a retired flat racing jockey, who won six British Classic Races in a 33 year career.
Richard James Hills was born in Newmarket, Suffolk on 22 January 1963, along with twin brother Michael who also became a jockey. Their father is former racehorse trainer Barry Hills. The twins' older brother John Hills was also a trainer. They also have two younger brothers, Charlie Hills (who has succeeded their father Barry as a racehorse trainer) and George Hills who works in the breeding and insurance side of the industry in Kentucky, United States.
Hills rode his first winner, Border Dawn, at Doncaster on 26 October 1979, a couple of months after Michael has his first. Initially apprenticed to his father, he transferred to Tom Jones, for whom he had won the Yorkshire Cup on Ilium and finished fourth in the Derby on At Talaq. [2]
His first Group 1 winner was Ashal in the Ascot Gold Cup in 1990. He became the second jockey of Hamdan Al Maktoum in 1995, and was promoted to first jockey in 1997 following the retirement of Willie Carson. He used to fill in on spare rides for Godolphin Racing. He retired at the Dubai World Cup on 31 March 2012. [3] On Sky Sports TV coverage, he joked that he retired twice in one day, as the inaugural Dubai Gold Cup in which he was racing had to be re-run, due to a fall by a Godolphin horse, Fox Hunt.
Richard enjoys breeding ducks, Persian cats and plane spotting.[ citation needed ]
Michael Hills is a retired British flat racing jockey, who won the 1996 Epsom Derby on Shaamit. He was British flat racing Champion Apprentice of 1983. He is twin brother to Richard Hills and their father is racehorse trainer Barry Hills.
Olivier Peslier is a French thoroughbred horse racing jockey.
Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, is an Italian jockey based in England. In a career spanning over 35 years, he has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ridden the winners of 287 Group 1 races including 23 winners of the British Classic Races. His most celebrated achievement was riding all seven winners on British Festival of Racing Day at Ascot Racecourse on 28 September 1996.
Saeed bin Suroor is a horse racing trainer in Great Britain. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training licence in 1994 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation.
Patrick James John Eddery was an Irish flat racing jockey and trainer. He rode three winners of the Derby and was Champion Jockey on eleven occasions. He rode the winners of 4,632 British flat races, a figure exceeded only by Sir Gordon Richards.
Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
John Leeper Dunlop was an English race horse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex. He trained the winners of 74 Group One races, including 10 British Classics, with over 3000 winners in total. He was the British flat racing Champion Trainer in 1995.
John Harry Martin Gosden is a British racehorse trainer. He has trained over 3,000 winners worldwide, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the Arc, the King George, the Eclipse. He has over 600 winners in the United States.
Barry Hills is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.
Paul F. I. Cole is a British racehorse trainer. Since 1987 he has been based at Whatcombe Estate in Berkshire, the former stables of Dick Dawson and Arthur Budgett.
Moon Ballad is a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed internationally.
Mutafaweq is a Thoroughbred racehorse who raced successfully in England, Germany, and Canada.
Doyen is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse, who was bred in Ireland but trained in France, Dubai and the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 2002 to 2005. He is best known for winning the 2004 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Nayef is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. Bred in the United States and trained in the United Kingdom, his racing career ran from 2000 to 2003. He is best known for winning a series of important races, including four Group One races: the Champion Stakes, the Dubai Sheema Classic, the International Stakes and the Prince of Wales's Stakes.
Grandera is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in Ireland and trained in the United Kingdom and Dubai during a racing career which lasted from 2000 to 2003. He is best known for his 2002 campaign, in which he won the World Series Racing Championship and the Cartier Racing Award for European Champion Older Horse.
Kazzia was a German-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, who was trained in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. In a racing career which lasted from September 2001 until October 2002 she ran seven times and won five races in four different countries. She is best known for successfully completing the Classic double of the 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks. She was the first German-bred horse to win a British Classic. After her retirement from racing she became a successful broodmare. Kazzia died in March 2013 from post-foaling complications.
Marcus Tregoning is an English thoroughbred racehorse trainer, based at Whitsbury Manor Stables in Whitsbury, Hampshire. He originally worked as assistant trainer to Dick Hern. Tregoning began training horses by himself in 1997 at Kingwood House Stables at Lambourn in Berkshire, before moving to Whitsbury in 2013. He won the Derby in 2006 with Sir Percy. Other notable horses include Group One winners Nayef, Ekraar, and most recently Mohaather, winner of the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in 2020.
The 2003 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 26 July 2003. It was the 53rd King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Dubai Destination is a retired American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. As a two-year-old he showed great promise, winning two of his three races including the Champagne Stakes, but was beaten on his only run in 2002. He returned after a year-long absence in 2003 and recorded his biggest win when taking the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was retired to stud at the end of the year and has had some notable successes as a breeding stallion.
Cherry Mix was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After winning one minor race as a juvenile in 2003 he made steady progress in the following year. He was placed in the Prix Noailles and the Prix Hocquart and went on to win both the Prix Frederic de Lagrange and the Grand Prix de Deauville before producing his best performance when narrowly beaten in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. When transferred to Godolphin in 2005 he won the Gran Premio del Jockey Club. In 2006 he recorded further major wins in the Rheinland-Pokal and the Premio Roma. He was retired from racing at the end of the 2007 season.