Bellhops, chambermaids, housewives and dentists loved to bet on Piggott and, at his peak, he cost bookmakers millions in lost earnings• Lester Piggott, the outstanding postwar jockey, dies aged 86The New York Times published a piece about Lester Piggott in 1985, marking what proved to be only the first of the great man’s retirements. Reflecting on his accumulation of fans over the previous three decades, the paper declared: “They’d bet Piggott no matter what the odds on his horses were. In Britain, where one can hardly pass a bellhop or chambermaid or housewife who doesn’t have at least a few quid on a nag with their local turf accountant, Piggott became an idol of huge proportion.”One can only guess at...
A man of few words, Piggott became the first great jockey of the television age and a darling among punters due to his ruthless dedication to winning“Never” is a word to be used with care in a sport founded on uncertainty and chance. But it is safe to say that there will never be another jockey who connects as thoroughly and deeply with the racing and betting public as Lester Piggott during the three decades when he was the dominant force in British Flat racing.The reason is Piggott’s timing. Not just the split-second judgment that so often put him on the right side of a head-bobbing photo-finish, or allowed him to deliver Royal Academy on the line in the 1990...
Piggott won 30 British Classics between 1954 and 1992, and his record of 116 winners at Royal Ascot is also still a recordLester Piggott, whose record of nine wins in the Derby at Epsom seems unlikely to be approached, never mind equalled, in the decades to come has been unveiled as one of the first two inductees into Flat racing’s new Hall of Fame, alongside Frankel, the unbeaten winner of 14 races, including 10 Group Ones, between 2010 and 2012.It is a measure of the immensity of Piggott’s achievements in the sport’s most prestigious Flat race that no jockey currently riding has more than two Derby wins to their name. Piggott equalled the previous record of six Derby winners –...