Richard Michael Hannon Jr. (born 21 November 1975) is a British racehorse trainer. He is the son of, and former assistant to, four time

British flat racing Champion Trainer The Champion Trainer of flat racing in Great Britain is the trainer whose horses have won the most prize money during a season. The list below shows the Champion Trainer for each year since 1896. The Championship was originally run from November ...

Richard Hannon Sr. He operates from the 160 capacity Herridge Racing Stables, near

Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English Counties of England, county of Wiltshire on the A4 road (England), Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath, Somerset, Bath. Th ...

, with a smaller yard at Everleigh on the edge of

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

. He took over the training operation from his father at the end of 2013.

Career

Hannon comes from a family with a long tradition of horse training. Both his father, Richard, and grandfather, Harry, were also trainers. In his younger days, he spent time learning his trade at top stables in Australia, before returning to England to be his father's assistant, just like his father had been his grandfather's assistant before the elder man's retirement in 1970. He served as his father's assistant for twelve years. During his time as assistant, the yard was highly successful, his father winning three trainers' championships in four years, thanks to the success of horses like 2013

1,000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

winner,

Sky Lantern A sky lantern (), also known as Kǒngmíng lantern (), or Chinese lantern, is a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. In Asia and elsewhere around the world, sky lanterns have bee ...

, Sussex Stakes winner, Toronado, and

Canford Cliffs Canford Cliffs is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The neighbourhood lies on the English Channel coast midway between Poole and Bournemouth. To the southwest is Sandbanks which has some of the highest property values in the world; with Canfo ...

, winner of five

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

races before his retirement in 2011. He was instrumental in bringing in new owners to the yard including Sheikh Hamdan,

Andrew Tinkler William Andrew Tinkler (known as Andrew Tinkler) was the chief executive officer of Stobart Group Limited until 1 July 2017. He lives in Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scot ...

, Sir Robert Ogden,

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

and Sheikh Fahad Al Thani. It was announced at the end of November 2013 that he would take over the running of the stable from his father with effect from 1 January 2014. Richard Hughes jockey IMG 2034 20131201

His first runner in his own right was an unraced three-year-old called Unscripted in a seven furlong

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

on 3 January 2014. The horse duly won by 10 lengths as the 2/1 favourite, ridden by

Sean Levey Sean Levey (born 7 March, 1988) is a Swazi born, Classic-winning jockey based in the United Kingdom. Early life Levey was born in Swaziland (now Eswatini) to an Irish father, jockey and trainer Mick Levey, and a Swazi mother, Tini. In 2001 the ...

. He currently has 240 horses in training, including Toormore, Toronado,

Olympic Glory Olympic Glory (foaled 27 March 2010) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading two-year-olds in Europe in 2012 when he won the Superlative Stakes, Vintage Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère. His only ...

and

, all of whom won big races for his father. Toormore gave him his first big race victory when winning the Group 3

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) ...

at Newmarket and went into the 2014

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

as one of the leading fancies. It was in fact the stable's second string Night of Thunder, ridden by Kieren Fallon, that won the race, despite lurching wildly as the post approached. This gave Hannon his first Classic victory as a trainer in his own right. Prior to his retirement, Hannon's brother-in-law Richard Hughes was the stable jockey. Hughes is now a trainer himself.

Personal life

Hannon is a triplet, with brother Henry and sister Elizabeth. He also has another three sisters, Claire, Fanny and Julie. Elizabeth is married to trainer Richard Hughes. He married his second wife, Jemima in 2011. Their first child, Eliza, was born in January 2012, and a son, Jack was born on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

2013. He was formerly married to the horse racing presenter Zoey Bird.

Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

- (1) - ''

Billesdon Brook Billesdon Brook (24 February 2015 – 10 May 2022) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. She was a useful and consistent juvenile in 2017, winning three races including the Prestige Stakes and being placed on four of her other five starts. In the ...

(2018)'' *

- '' Night of Thunder (2014)'' * Cheveley Park Stakes - ''

Tiggy Wiggy Tiggy Wiggy (foaled 7 March 2012) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won six out of eight races including the Weatherbys Super Sprint, Lowther Stakes and Cheveley Park Stakes and was voted Cartier Champion Tw ...

(2014)'' *

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...

- (1) - ''

Pether's Moon Pether's Moon (foaled 15 April 2010) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire (horse), sire best known for his win in the 2015 Coronation Cup. After showing some promise as a juvenile in 2012 he became a successful Hand ...

(2015)'' * Falmouth Stakes - (1) - ''Snow Lantern (2021) '' * Lockinge Stakes - (2) - ''

(2014), Night of Thunder (2015)'' * Queen Anne Stakes - '' Toronado (2014)'' *

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is s ...

- (1) - ''

King of Change King of Change (foaled 20 March 2016) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. After finishing second in both of his starts as a two-year-old in 2018 he developed into a top-class miler in the following year, finishing second in the 2000 Guineas and ...

(2019)'' * St James's Palace Stakes - ''

Barney Roy Barney Roy (foaled 29 January 2014) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning his only race as a juvenile in 2016 he emerged as a top-class performer in the following year. He won the Greenham Stakes and finished second in the 2000 Guin ...

(2017)'' *

Sun Chariot Stakes The Sun Chariot Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

- (1) - ''Billesdon Brook (2019)'' ---- France * Prix de la Forêt - ''Olympic Glory (2014)'' * Prix Jean Romanet - ''Aristia (2022)'' ---- Italy *

Gran Premio del Jockey Club The Gran Premio del Jockey Club is a Group 2 flat horse race in Italy open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Milan over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year in October. T ...

- ''Ventura Storm (2016)''

References

External links

Official Richard Hannon Racing website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannon, Richard Jr. 1975 births Living people British racehorse trainers People from Wiltshire

Career

Personal life

Major wins

See also

References

External links