by december 1926, richards was back in the saddle, and returned to winning ways in the 1927 racing season. in 1932 he became stable jockey to fred darling, and that season, with 259 victories under his belt, he broke the record for the greatest number of wins in a year, a record he was to keep for nearly 50 years (he broke his own record in 1947 when riding 269 winners). the following year he set a world record winning twelve consecutive races including riding all six winners at chepstow on 4 october. achievement followed achievement, with richards winning the 1947 2,000 guineas at newmarket racecourse aboard tudor minstrel by 8 lengths, the largest winning margin in the race since 1900.