A highly acclaimed and stylish jump jockey, Richard held the record for the greatest number of career wins for a jump jockey (1699) until that figure was overtaken by Tony McCoy in August 2002. He was champion jockey for three seasons. He is one of only four post war jockeys to have captured the illusive triple crown of the Gold Cup (Charter Party 1986), the Champion Hurdle (Kribensis 1990) and the Grand National (West Tip 1986 and Minnehoma 1994).