25 August 2011 Colourful character Hunnisett retires
by Carolyn Tanner
DENVALE (centre): One of many top pointers partnered by Richard over the years
photo: Jackie Oliver
When the new Point-to-Point season starts in November, the Midlands Area scene will be much the poorer for the retirement of one of its most popular participants, Richard Hunnisett.
Richard, a pawnbroker by profession, learned to ride only at the age of 21, his equestrian interests up until then having consisted, on his own admission, of "going into Ladbrokes." He scored his initial success between the flags on Shipmate in 1995 when he was in his late thirties, and has taken his final victory tally to 58.
All have been on his own horses, and all bar three, including Shipmate, who was trained by Nick Pomfret, have been saddled by Caroline and Gerald Bailey. The biggest contributor to his total was Copper Thistle, whose 24 Pointing triumphs were supplemented by two in Hunter Chases, while Denvale, who hung up his racing plates after landing the Quorn Gold Cup for the third time in April, carried Richard into the winner's enclosure on nine occasions.
Unfortunately Richard's hopes of signing off with a winner himself failed to go according to plan, as a fall from the fancied Van Ness at Dingley forced him to give up his other intended mount that day, The King Of Angels, who duly obliged for substitute jockey Nick Pearce. Earlier in the season, though, Van Ness was the hero of the hour when finishing a more than creditable sixth in the Aintree Fox Hunters' Chase under the guidance of his owner-rider.
What makes Richard's achievements all the more meritorious is the fact that he did not come out of a typical jockey mould. Tall and of a medium build, he has often struggled to ride at 12 stone, although admittedly his difficulty has sometimes been of his own making, with his love of socialising, and the food and drink involved therein, helping to pile on a few unwanted pounds!
"I don't think I'll be a very good spectator to start with," he admitted, so of the horses currently in his ownership, Denvale will be kept as a hunter, but The King Of Angels and Van Ness are both on the market, with Richard pointing out that both are schoolmaster material.
His involvement in the amateur sport will now probably be confined to the content of his friends' car boots at the local tracks, but his well-known green and gold colours may be carried on the professional circuit some time in the future, as he has expressed an interest in having a few shares in horses running under Rules.
