Lester Piggott

Tall for a jockey at over 5ft 7ins, 'The Long Fellow', as he became affectionately tagged, partnered more than 5,000 winners worldwide. A man of very few words ...

He sustained several broken bones and a collapsed lung, which forced him to miss the next three months. He was approaching his 59th birthday. Within a fortnight he had teamed up with his old ally O’Brien to ride Royal Academy at Belmont Park – and with all the familiar dash and drive intact, he brought the horse with a thrilling late run to snatch one of the world’s great prizes. Piggott had retired in a blaze of publicity in 1985 and took up training, sending out a winner at Royal Ascot. So it was almost unthinkable he should return to the saddle, particularly after his time in jail, but he did so in 1990 – on the verge of turning 55 and only days out of retirement. Within the racing world he was a colossus, and if his demeanour did little to encourage affection – he spoke little and was once described as having “a face like a well-kept grave” – his consummate skill in the saddle earned him total respect. His father Keith trained a Grand National winner, his grandfather Ernest rode to victory three times in the great steeplechase and his mother Iris was the daughter of Classic-winning jockey Fred Rickaby.

Piggott, who rode 30 winners in the five British Classics of flat racing including the Epsom Derby nine times, died in Switzerland having been admitted to ...

His last UK victory was in the November Handicap in 1994, but he won the Black Opal Stakes on Zadok in Canberra in March 1995 during a series of rides overseas to end his career. - He rode his first winner at the age of 12 and his last in 1995, aged 59 - His cause of death was not revealed but his son-in-law said Piggott died "peacefully"

Lester Piggott, whose Classic haul included nine Derby victories, has died at the age of 86.

"I came to his in-laws as an apprentice and he was part of my life right from the word go, until the end. The impact he has made in racing, on all of us, is second to none. He retired, for the final time, in 1995.

Iconic jockey Lester Piggott is dead aged 86 after battling heart problems – 48 hours after his daughter said he was on the mend in hospital.

Lester Piggott is being remembered as one of the greatest jockeys horse racing has ever seen. Read more here.

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Lester Piggott, whose Classic haul included nine Derby victories, has died at the age of 86.

The impact he has made in racing, on all of us, is second to none. "I came to his in-laws as an apprentice and he was part of my life right from the word go, until the end. He retired, for the final time, in 1995. "We had the luck of some ding-dongs on the track and he was a person who made us all better - because we had to be better to beat him. He was an iconic figure in the horse racing world. Carson and Piggott held sway on the track in the 1970s and 80s when both jockeys were in their pomp and five-times champion Carson said he felt like a part of him had died with the most iconic racing figure of the 20th century.

Known as the “Housewives Favourite” for widening the popularity of horse racing, Piggott won his first race as a 12-year-old.

Piggott was penalised more than once for his methods on the track, too. Piggott, who rode for leading trainers including Noel Murless and Vincent O’Brien, was a favourite among punters because of his determination and his uncompromising nature in a tight finish. Yes, I did cut up one or two, and them me, but you can’t do things, do your best to win all the time and be careful all the time.” Piggott had retired from riding and taken up training two years previously, and spent a year in jail. In later years, his reputation was tarnished when he served jail time for tax evasion. He went on to capture nine English derbies and more than 5300 races around the world during a career that spanned almost half a century.

Iconic jockey Lester Piggott is dead aged 86 after battling heart problems – 48 hours after his daughter said he was on the mend in hospital.

Collaborating with the late jockey on books gave me a front-row seat to a man whose personality became the stuff of myth.

In Ireland for a charity race meeting, our host, looking to find something in common with the guest of honour, jovially told him: “You know, Lester, you and I have one thing in common. They were still five lengths clear entering the final furlong, then started to slow down, and were caught on the line. On his return he asked for his newspaper back, then – clearly fearing that I might have sold part of it in his absence – demanded: “Is it all there?” (He had not asked the same question about the boiled sweet at Redcar.) Winning and then keeping the Piggott trust was no easy matter, and his suspicious nature could reveal itself in the most trivial circumstances. A bigger star and her entourage had just arrived, and Katie Price’s people were insisting on a table well away from the prying eyes of passing racegoers. That impression was enhanced soon afterwards when he insisted on taking me to lunch at a swish London gaming club.