How long has Richard Hannon Jnr. held a training licence?

One of triplets born in November, 1975, Richard Hannon Jnr. is the son of Richard Hannon Snr., who won the British Flat Trainers’ Championship four times, in 1992, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Hannon Jnr. served as assistant trainer to his father for twelve years before finally taking over the training licence on January 1, 2014. He wasted little time in chalking up his first winner as a trainer, saddling debutante Unscripted – subsequently renamed Ho Lee Horse – to a 10-length victory in a maiden stakes race at Wolverhampton two days later.

Indeed, having inherited a formidable string of horses from his father, Hannon Jnr. enjoyed a stellar first season. He won his first British Classic, the 2,000 Guineas, at the first attempt with Night Of Thunder and went on to win four more Group 1 races, namely the Lockinge Stakes and the Prix de la Forest, both with Olympic Glory, the Queen Anne Stakes, with Toronado, and the Cheveley Park Stakes, with Tiggy Wiggy. All told, Hannon Jnr. Saddled 206 winners on British soil, 32 fewer than his father had done in his final, title-winning season, but still sufficient to take the trainers’ title at the first time of asking.

Nowadays, Hannon operates two separate yards, a couple of miles apart. He is based at the newer of the two, Herridge House, near Marlborough, with the original yard at East Everleigh acting as a ‘satellite’ yard. At the time of writing, in 2021 he has, so far, saddled 128 winners from 1,052 runners, at a strike rate of just over 12%.