Lester Piggott was the greatest jockey of them all, his incredible success on track was as eventful as life off it
IN the Sport of Kings, he wore the crown.
He was the greatest jockey of them all, with a record nine Epsom Derby triumphs among 30 classic victories.
But Lester Piggott, who has died aged 86, was the unlikeliest of superstars and a man full of contradictions.
He was Zorro and he was Scrooge. He was the dashing 11-time champion jockey, regarded by many rivals as if he were one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
He rode winners for The Queen, yet served time at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
He was the child prodigy who saddled the last of 4,493 winners in his 60th year.
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Adored by punters, he was known as the ‘Housewives’ Favourite’ for the way he broadened the appeal of racing – and betting. Yet he was something of a loner in the weighing room.
One of the most famous men in England during his long glory years, Piggott despised the limelight.
While other sportsmen of his generation enjoyed rock-style lifestyles, Piggott – who was born partially deaf, spoke with an impediment – was taciturn and reclusive.
In some ways, this created an even greater aura around him.
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English football’s greatest goalscorer, Jimmy Greaves, regarded Piggott as his ultimate sporting hero. Greaves even had a golden retriever named Lester, in the jockey’s honour.
Not that Piggott’s shyness should be confused for modesty. After a victory in the United States in 1969, he was asked by a reporter at which point he knew he was going to win the race, he replied: “About two weeks ago.”
Piggott was competitive to the point of ruthlessness on and off the track – infamous for his harsh use of the whip and his tendency to ‘jock off’ his rivals from the most desirable rides.
When he made a comeback in 1990, after serving a year in jail for tax fraud, a veteran Piggott raced against a young Frankie Dettori, who would tease him about his advancing years.
During one race at Glorious Goodwood, Dettori recalls Piggott, just behind him, ‘reaching over, grabbing me between the legs and squeezing hard’, causing the Italian ‘eye-watering pain’.
‘That’ll teach you to be cocky, you little s**t,’ Piggott told Dettori.
But Piggott was also ruthless on himself. At 5ft 8in, he was tall for a jockey and he consistently rode at 8st 5lbs – 30lbs under his natural weight, famously living on a diet of cigars and the occasional chunk of Yorkie bar.
On retiring, Piggott quipped: “Eating is going to be a whole new ball game, I may even have to buy a new pair of trousers.”
Piggott was born in Wantage, Berkshire, on November 5, 1935, into a family with horse-racing roots dating back to the 18th century – his father and grandfather both successful National Hunt jockeys.
He rode his first winner at Haydock in 1948, aged just 12, and won his first Derby at the age of 18, riding Never Say Die to glory, then celebrating by going home and mowing his lawn.
And ‘The Long Fellow’ – as he was known, for his slender frame – certainly enjoyed longevity. His final Derby success came on Teenoso 29 years later.
On his greatest mount, Nijinsky, Piggott won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger in 1970. And Nijinsky remains the only horse since the Second World War to win the English Triple Crown.
Piggott ‘retired’ in 1985, a brief career as a trainer was ended by his conviction for swindling the taxman – when he served 366 days of a three-year sentence.
The jockey was unrepentant about his crime, referring to his prison stretch as ‘unnecessary’ and adamant that he had learned nothing from his time behind bars.
He returned to racing in 1990, winning the Breeders’ Cup just ten days into his comeback, before he finally called it a day in 1995.
Piggott had been stripped of his OBE as a result of his conviction – yet The Queen unveiled a statue of him at Epsom in 2019.
The great jockey’s personal life was every bit as eventful as his sporting career.
Piggott had been married to Susan Armstrong since 1960 and he is survived by the couple’s two daughters, Maureen and Tracy, as well as a son, Jamie, from a long-term relationship with his former secretary Anna Ludlow.
But while Piggott and his wife separated decades ago, they were never divorced and remained friends.
He lived the final ten years of his life in Switzerland with his girlfriend, Lady Barbara FitzGerald, who was more than 20 years his junior.
Piggott was fiercely unconventional until the end – but for decades, he ruled the sport of England’s establishment in regal fashion.