Richard Hughes became a father for the second time on Tuesday, his wife Lizzie giving birth to a 7lb 12oz baby girl, who they are calling Phoebe.

 The couple, who already have a two-year-old son, Harvey, were delighted that Phoebe arrived before dad's departure on Friday for the Indian Derby, in which he rides the favourite Jacqueline.

 Richard said:"Everything went fine with Lizzie, and we have a smashing little girl, so our family is complete.I couldn't be happier.

 "Now I can fly off to India relaxed, and, hopefully, we'll have more to celebrate come Sunday night. Jacqueline is a very good filly, and we have already won the 1000 and 2000 Guineas and the Oaks, so she will be creating a bit of history if she can mop up the Derby, too. Martin Dwyer rides second-favourite Becket, but if Jacqueline runs her race she should win, which would put the icing on the cake."

  Meanwhile, Richard Hannon snr has arrived back from Barbados after his winter holiday, and Richard jnr reports the string "ticking over nicely"

  He added:"January is always a quiet month, so, while the snow kept returning it was not a problem. We are just steadying away cantering and won't be stepping up a gear for a few weeks yet, but just as you would not expect toddlers to be sitting exams the minute they start school, then, similarly, we have to educate the youngsters before asking them any serious questions. They look a great bunch, and fingers crossed there might be one or two aeroplanes amongst them."

      Richard Hannon is enjoying his annual three-week holiday in Barbados, but Richard jnr has the Herridge and Everleigh ships running sweetly in his absence, though he has still found time to name the day when he will tie the knot with his fiancee, Jemima Ensor, Saturday September 4.

     "Finding a suitable date in what is a hectic racing calendar was never going to be easy, but I doubt that we'll have anything for the Haydock Sprint Cup, and I am sure that dad will allow me to miss the Sirenia Stakes at Kempton," smiled Richard jnr, who will have to postpone his honeymoon until after the Sales season.

     Meanwhile, the Hannon horses have swung gently back into action after an enforced break, and Richard reports "all is well".

    He added:"We have now had four straight days cantering and put plenty of horses through the stalls, so everything is fine.

    "Obviously, the snow was a bit of a pain, but we would not have been doing much with ours anyway and they had three weeks off what with the weather and the bi-annual flu vaccinations.

    "Canford Cliffs cantered this week and has done really well through the winter, but it will be another five or six weeks until we move up a gear and do any fast work."

    Meanwhile, stable jockey Richard Hughes, also on holiday in Barbados, is planning to return to Mumbai for the Indian Oaks and Derby, in which he will be reacquainted with the smart local filly Jacqueline, on whom he has already won both the 1000 and 2000 Guineas. 

    You might have read about it in Richard Kay's gossip column in The Daily Mail, but Richard Hannon jnr has got himself engaged to successful three-day eventer Jemima Ensor, and our congratulations go out to the happy couple.

    The pair have been "stepping out" for a year, and the signs were ominous when Richard allowed Jemima to ride out towards the back-end of last season, but it all became official on Christmas Day when junior popped the question (no, not on his knees!).

    Richard, 34, said:"Happily, Jemima accepted, and, though we haven't fixed a date yet, it will have to be when there is a lull in racing and before the start of the major sales season, maybe sometime in September."

    With all the snow on the ground, Herridge is not exactly a hive of activity just now, so, while Richard has yet to buy the engagement ring, I hear that they have a splendid selection at Mappin & Webb, Richard, or Harry Herbert might be able to secure you a deal at Cartier. Make sure, he does not try and whisk you off to the tail end of the January Sales, Jemima!  

       Richard Hannon has fingers crossed that the surrounding roads around Lingfield are sufficiently free of snow for the doctors to get through in time for Saturday's meeting as he is very sweet on the chance of Plum Pudding in the £10,000 conditions stakes.

       Hannon said:"Plum Pudding is back to a mile and that is just what he wants. There just haven't been any suitable races around, but he had a canter on the snow on Thursday morning and he seems very well. The weather has been pretty bad down here, and, while we have been able to get the horses out and keep them on the move, we could not do much with them for three days, so it was good to get them rolling again.

     "The small field (only four opponents) will also suit Plum Pudding as Hughesie ought to be able to dictate things from the front.

     "We also run Banks and Braes down there and he'll be hard to beat, too. It is his first time on the surface, but he is by Red Ransom, so that should not be a problem."

     Richard Hannon jnr was back on the Herridge gallops on Monday morning, and, while the Indian lads were wearing gloves, ear muffs, long johns etc in an attempt to keep warm, our assistant trainer, who has just returned from a ski-ing holiday in France, assured them that compared with last week's temperatures this Siberian weather was positively spring-like!

    Richard jnr described his week at Val d'Isere as "absolutely brilliant", though observing "it was freezing but great fun, though the apres ski was expensive as they seem totally oblivious to any credit crunch".

 Val d'Isere is the European ski mecca - the home town of four Olympic medalists, who can boast nine golds between them - and, while not quite that standard, young Richard is no Eddie The Eagle either and is allegedly as fearless on the piste as Richard Hughes is in the saddle, being a past master on the black runs.

     However, Richard concedes that it is now back to the day job with plenty of hard graft between now and November as the Hannon team strive to improve on what was a wonderful 2009 Flat season.

    He said:"It will be a while yet before the two-year-olds start cantering, though we have done plenty of steady groundwork with them which is all part of their early education.

   "Many of the older horses have come back in, the likes of Paco Boy, Canford Cliffs, Soul City, Lucky General, and now the New Year celebrations are behind us we are all getting a bit of an adrenaline rush.

   "I read in The Racing Post this morning how excited Peter Doyle is about Canford Cliffs. He is convinced that the colt will get a mile, and Hughesie has no doubt, and we have been very pleased with how well he has done through the winter. The 2000 Guineas is only four months away - it will soon come around!" 

   Such is the size of Richard Hannon's growing family that "as big as it gets" were the boss's instructions when he went to buy the Christmas turkey, though the Festive celebrations have already begun in earnest with the staff party on Tuesday night.

   Richard Hannon jnr said:"We all went off to a local Indian restaurant and as most of the lads in the yard are from India we didn't need any menus!

  "They are a great bunch of workers, and we had a thoroughly good party, quite raucous at times but everyone entered into the spirit of things and there was not a bad bottle on the table."

   Confirming that he is enjoying being able to briefly climb off the carousel after what was a hectic 2009 season, Hannon jnr added:"It is relatively quiet around the yard, but the yearlings are all in and being ridden and trotted around the place. We will gradually step up the workload through January and February, and they look an exciting bunch, and if they do half as well as last year's crop we'll have no complaints.

  "I am off ski-ing soon and when I return dad will be off to Barbados, but we will then be knuckling down to some hard graft and, with Canford Cliffs etc, there is plenty to look forward to for next year.

   "Meanwhile, dad and I would like to wish all our owners a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and let us hope we'll celebrate plenty more winners between us."

  Sir Alex Ferguson is renowned for being able to spot a winner at 100 paces, and the Manchester United manager has joined forces with the Richard Hannon team for 2010, having bought a yearling by Kyllachy with the Herridge trainer, who sent out 94 two-year-old winners last Flat season.

  A delighted Richard snr said:"Sir Alex and his good friend, Sotirios Hassiakos, have come on board, and they have secured a lovely Kyllachy colt. The sire was a top sprinter and this fellow looks all speed, so, hopefully, we will have a lot of fun together.

  "Alex seems to have plenty of luck wherever he goes. He has won everything there is to win at Old Trafford, and, having reached the penthouse as a racehorse owner with Rock of Gibraltar, he is climbing pretty high in his first venture over jumps with Hennessy Gold Cup runner-up What A Friend.

 "They have not yet named their yearling, but he has been broken in and is being ridden and trotted around together with all the other yearlings, and he certainly looks the part."

       Richard Hughes has enjoyed a fruitful December on foreign shores, and last Sunday he landed the Indian 2000 Guineas at Mumbai on Jacqueline, repeating the success he celebrated on the same filly in their 1000 Guineas seven days earlier.

       Jacqueline, who became the first filly to complete the Guineas double for 30 years, proved far too good for seven colts, and, seizing first run on Michael Fenton's unbeaten Sea Ruler, romped home by an easy two lengths.

      Hughes rode three winners on Sunday's card, a feat he had also achieved there the previous week-end, and, though he plans to have Christmas at home before holidaying in the new year in Barbados, he has vowed to be back in Indian in February to ride Jacqueline in the Derby and Oaks - maybe both.

     He said:"I am trying to convince the owners to run Jacqueline in the Derby - she is a very good filly, and, though there would have to be some doubts about her stamina, you can nurse them around in India and I'd be optimistic that her class will get her through."

     We are all in the midst of a financial crisis worldwide, meaning we need all the help that we can get, but Richard Hannon has always been a step ahead of most of his contemporaries, and he would like to reassure his owners that every single one of his yearlings has been fully nominated and entered for the Racing Post Yearling Scheme.

    Therefore, you need to do more - the entrance fee will obviously be passed on, but the forms have been sent on to Weatherbys and all our yearlings will be eligible for the £10,000 bonus being awarded to the winners of selected maiden races, which include open, fillies, maiden auction and median auction events during the 2010 Turf Flat season.

    Meanwhile, if we don't speak before the Festive season begins, Richard Hannon, snr and jnr, and all the team at Herridge and Everleigh would like to take this opportunity to wish all our owners a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And let us hope that we have as much to celebrate in 2010 as we did in the 2009 season.

     In these times of recession - and I haven't seen too many green shoots myself yet - few trainers are buying on spec, and Richard Hannon is happy to report that all the yearlings that he purchased at the bloodstock sales in the autumn have been sold.

    He said:"We have some lovely yearlings and most of them have already been broken. It is always nice to get them all sorted out with new owners, and, while we might buy a few more at the Breeze-Up Sales in March, we have enough to keep us busy for the time being."

   Richard junior has a ski-ing holiday planned and the boss will be off for his annual trip to Barbados after Christmas, while Richard Hughes, who has been ticking away on the all-weather since he returned from South Africa a couple of weeks ago, might well take in the Indian classics before embarking on a Caribbean vacation himself early in the New Year.