THE happiest man in racing last week was almost certainly Australian John Ridley, appointed Racing Manager by the Jockey Club and, in essence, taking over from John Jeffs whose departure is lamented. Not only is a job with the richly-endowed RHKJC welcome at any time but it would also seem that Ridley was not wildly keen on Auckland, even though he had been there since 1987. Impeccable sources inform us that Ridley was on the 'phone to the Macau Jockey Club two years back to inquire if their Clerk of the Course, the ageing but excellent Gordon McVeigh, was thinking of calling it quits. ''I want to get out of New Zealand,'' was the plea. No luck at Taipa, however, as good old Gordon stuck determinedly on. Well, luck has certainly turned for Ridley who now gets a plum job. Before his Ellerslie stint, he was at the Australian Jockey Club and, at one stage, an underling to top tracks man, Dick Robert. Times have changed. And for Ridley, it's certainly for the better. He got the Hong Kong job and his former boss, Robert, didn't. They say they are shaking their heads at the AJC. AS another Grand National spectacular duly ran its course last night, there was one would-be Corinthian in the stewards' room who was living every moment of it more than most. Step forward former amateur jump jockey Bernard Hargreaves who likes nothing more than the thrills and spills of the National Hunt world. His colours were nailed firmly to the mast of one Ron Treloggen, the Somerset dairy farmer who did the steering and the leaping on Double Silk. You see, we may never have witnessed this great amateur effort had it not been for one B. Hargreaves. It was Bernard who actually sold an 18-year-old Ronnie Treloggen his first hunter chaser. AS Mick Kinane legged it hurriedly from Happy Valley last night to a waiting car and a desperate dash to Kai Tak for a London-bound plane, he could be forgiven for wondering if his immediate journey was really necessary. The redoubtable Kinane is booked for five rides at the Curragh today but as the weather in Britain and Ireland showed little sign of relenting the odds are that racing at Ireland's headquarters will be abandoned - for the second week on the trot. ''It would have been a lot easier to take the Sunday plane as I'm not due at Newmarket to Wednesday. But Dermot [Weld] has five declared for the Curragh and me down to ride them.'' WE'RE going to be keeping an eagle eye out for any price rises at the Mughal Rooms restaurant over the next few weeks. It's the best Indian in town and its owner, the well-named S. P. Hussain, was one of the biggest spenders at the recent Sydney Easter Sales. Hussain forked out well over HK$1.5 million for three yearling purchases including one Bletchingly colt out of a beautifully bred English mare that had Bart Cummings sniffing round him for the rest of the sales, understandably keen to train the youngster. Instead, all three yearlings are off to an Australian farm where they will be tried out in private before the best comes to Hong Kong as a private purchase griffin. Hussain is also in danger of becoming the Sheik Mohammed of his native Pakistan. While down in Australia he also supervised the flying of another 40-plus fillies and colts to Lahore where he has his own stud farm and well over 100 horses in training. Must be a profitable business, this restaurant caper.
