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| Lester Piggott |
Lester won the coveted Epsom Derby a record nine times, the first of them astride Never Say Die when he was only 19 years of age. Later that year, however, the Stewards found his aggressive style of riding a little too dangerous for their liking and stood him down for a fairly long period. He returned to the track grossly overweight but such was Lester’s determination to ride winners, that he shed 9 kg in six days to be at a favourable 51 kg which was more or less his riding weight for most part.
Piggott was first signed up by Noel Murless as a stable jockey. The move paid rich dividends in 1957, when he was 22. He rode a classic double with Crepello (Derby) and Carrozza (Oaks). The latter was owned by the Queen of England. While teaming with Murless, Lester also won the Derby astride St. Paddy in 1960. The indomitable Vincent O’Brien was the first to snap up Lester once he ended his tenure with Murless. The partnership proved extremely fruitful as the duo bagged a quartet of Epsom Derbies with Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Roberto and The Minstrel.
Indian punters will remember well the innocuous looking Sandy Barclay who was known to unleash his riding finesse only after heads turned for home. Barclay rode the Khatau-owned runners such as Everynsky with great success while stationed in Bombay in the late seventies and early eighties.
Barclay was, however, at the receiving end the day Sir Ivor won under Lester. With less than a furlong to go, his mount Connaught looked to have the race wrapped up but under Piggotts’s hard handling, Sir Ivor pegged him back and gained the day close home. It was the kind of classic finish that keeps the legend of Epsom alive.
It was unbelievable that Vincent O’Brien would produce another Derby winner within a space of two years. It came in the form of Nijinsky. What a colt! He won 11 races in a row including the Triple Crown - the first to do so since Bahram in 1935. Bookmakers offered Nijinsky at 5/2 for the Derby but Piggott made no mistake. Fearing that the colt may idle once shown daylight a little too early, Lester brought him with a flourish in the dying stages of the race.
Piggott’s bogey race proved to be the L’Arc de Triomphe. It took him nearly 20 years to script his name among winners at Longchamp. Success finally came atop Rheingold. He ultimately won the Arc thrice during his illustrious career. His other big success story outside England was in the Irish Sweeps Derby which he won half a dozen times.
There’s no doubt about it. Lester Piggott is a living legend and a prime candidate for the ‘best of all time’, tag.
