Among one of the oldest adventure sports he was admired and revered in all the countries where he rode, where also his professional career and even His particular life was always followed with expectation. Although he is now retired, in any conversation among fans of racing horses Lester and his riding crop always come up. to shine. Let's tell your story.
His birth and childhood
He was born on November 5, 1935 into a family that on the paternal line has three generations involved in theworld of racingwhere triumphs in the Grand National stand out. His mother, Iris Rickaby, was the winner in her time of the only race open to men and women; Fred Rickaby, his father, had won the Oaks with Canterbury Pilgrim.
Lester, apprentice
Since he debuted at the age of 12, Lester had to start this sacrificial activity, getting up at 6.30 a.m. to go to the stables and ride in training. Starting at 8:30 the normal life of a student awaited him. At only 14 years old, he was already proclaimed apprentice champion, having won 52 victories out of 404 mounts.
The first victory in a "classic"
The first victory in a classic came in the Epsom Derby of 1954 with Never Say Die, a discharge in bets of 33/1. He is only 18 years old.
Days later he will suffer the most serious suspension of his career, when the stewards take away his riding license for 6 months, for dangerous riding on Gordon Richards, the most successful jockey ever. Because of this suspension, Lester cannot lead Never Say Die to the easy victory that the horse will obtain in the St. Leger, the third gem of the Triple Crown.
Piggot joins coach Noel Murless
Piggott's luck, who had begun to gain alarmingly, suddenly turns in his favor. The commissioners decide to review the sanction, which is definitively lifted in October; Gordon Richards, his theoretical great rival, suffers a fall that will permanently retire him from the profession, after 35 active seasons, ending with 26 wounds.
Noel Murless, a trainer with several winning statistics, proposes that Piggott sign to ride the horses in his preparation. It will be a relationship that will last for 12 years.
Crepello, the Queen and the Aga Khan
Until 1957 he would not repeat victory in a classic race. It will be with Crepello, winning the Guineas and then in the Derby. Two days later he would obtain his first classic victory for the Queen of England in the Oaks. In 1959 he will wear another famous jacket; that of the Aga Khan, to the double classic victory in Guineas and Oaks. He will also win his first classic outside the Islands: the German Derby riding Orsini.
Win the stat
His first win as a jockey statistician winner occurred in 1960, coinciding with St. Paddy's triumphs in the Derby and St. Leger, the year in which he also married Susan Armstrong, Robert's sister, who He would later be the trainer of Moorstyle, one of the horses of which Piggott has fondest memories.
The problems of the scale
The next 3 years pass in a very gray way. His problems with the scale are accentuated and on eight occasions he will not be at the starting post of the classics. His career seems to be at stake, and then he decides to change his quiet vacation in the Bahamas, after the winter break in the Islands, and replace it with the frenetic activity that entails continuing riding during those months in America, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore. .
He takes advantage of his Sunday breaks in England to ride on the continent. In one of them he will establish in Milan the record for the least paid bet in the world: playing 10,000 to collect 10,001.
Sir Ivor, Lester Piggot's favorite horse. Ives St. Martín, his great rival
In the years from 1964 to 1971 he would link eight consecutive statistics and the triumphs would come with Sir Ivor (his favorite horse) in '68; and the Triple Crown with Nijinsky in '70, chaining 11 consecutive victories, broken at the Arc de Triomphe where Ives St. Martin surprisingly beat him with Sassafras. The defeat is a real trauma for both those responsible and for the English fans. Nijinsky is considered by many to be the Horse of the Century, during his racing life he belonged to Charles W. Engelhart, the Platinum King.
The "sir" of English housewives
She will not be subject to any contract in the years from 1967 to 1974, despite beginning her relationship with Vincent O'Brien. The ability to be able to choose the best horse to ride according to your criteria, among the range of those offered in each race, will trigger your statistics and will further reinforce its level of credibility among English housewives, who will bet massively on the option defended by their admired rider, until turning this practice into a social phenomenon. In 1975 Piggott received the Royal Order of the British Empire which entailed the treatment of Sir.
Reinghold and the long-awaited "Arc of Triumph"
With the following victories in the Derby, he equaled first with Roberto and then surpassed with Empery, the record of triumphs held until then by Jem Robinson and Steve Donoghue in this unique race that has no resemblance to any other and in which Gordon Richards, for To cite an example, he never managed to win. Between those two triumphs, in 1973 with Rheingold he removed the thorn that the Arc de Triomphe meant to him, where until then his horses had been beaten... four times!, all of them by less than one body: Ribocco, Sir Ivor, Park Top and Nijinsky, and in the four consecutive years from 1967 to 1970.
The double with Alleged. The memory of Ribot
With the victory of The Minstrel in the '77 Derby defending Robert Sangster's jacket, the O'Brien-Piggott tanden closes. There have been five victories in the Derby and the five winners have been acquired by O'Brien in America. His premonitory vision was knowing how to choose in a market where it has always been bred for very different purposes. He acquired specimens that adapted to the objective that everyone without exception intended or dreamed of on one side or the other of the Atlantic: winning the Derby. The union of both professionals will still bear fruit when Alleged wins two successive editions of the Arc de Triomphe, something that no one has achieved since Ribot.
Difficult years
After these successes a period of drought ensues. Three years without anything important to add to his record. His contract with Robert Sangster has ended. He has just signed with young coach Henry Cecil. Just at the beginning of that season he suffered a fall that almost caused serious consequences and made it necessary to resort to plastic surgery to repair the damage caused to his ear. He is 45 years old and many predict the end.
Genius reappears
A week later he won the 1000 Guineas with Fairy Footsteps, shortly after, the Oaks with Blue Wind and after 9 years he once again leads the statistics.
The following year with statistics and will further reinforce its level of credibility among English housewives, who will bet massively on the option defended by their admired rider, until turning this practice into a social phenomenon. In 1975 Piggott received the Royal Order of the British Empire which entailed the treatment of Sir.
Reinghold and the long-awaited "Arc of Triumph"
With the following victories in the Derby, he equaled first with Roberto and then surpassed with Empery, the record of triumphs held until then by Jem Robinson and Steve Donoghue in this unique race that has no resemblance to any other and in which Gordon Richards, for To cite an example, he never managed to win. Between those two triumphs, in 1973 with Rheingold he removed the thorn that the Arc de Triomphe meant to him, where until then his horses had been beaten... four times!, all of them by less than one body: Ribocco, Sir Ivor, Park Top and Nijinsky, and in the four consecutive years from 1967 to 1970.
The double with Alleged. The memory of Ribot
With the victory of The Minstrel in the '77 Derby defending Robert Sangster's jacket, the O'Brien-Piggott tanden closes. There have been five victories in the Derby and the five winners have been acquired by O'Brien in America. His premonitory vision was knowing how to choose in a market where it has always been bred for very different purposes. He acquired specimens that adapted to the objective that everyone without exception intended or dreamed of on one side or the other of the Atlantic: winning the Derby. The union of both professionals will still bear fruit when Alleged wins two successive editions of the Arc de Triomphe, something that no one has achieved since Ribot.
Difficult years
After these successes a period of drought ensues. Three years without anything important to add to his record. His contract with Robert Sangster has ended. He has just signed with young coach Henry Cecil. Just at the beginning of that season he suffered a fall that almost caused serious consequences and made it necessary to resort to plastic surgery to repair the damage caused to his ear. He is 45 years old and many predict the end.
Genius reappears
A week later he won the 1000 Guineas with Fairy Footsteps, shortly after, the Oaks with Blue Wind and after 9 years he once again leads the statistics.
The following year with
