Legendary jockey Lester Piggott – Britain's most famous rider – has died at the age of 86.
His amazing career spanned almost 50 years and he rode 4,493 winners – the third highest tally in British racing history behind only Sir Gordon Richards and Pat Eddery, He was crowned champion jockey 11 times and his name became synonymous with the Derby, which he won a record nine times, the tally part of a haul of 30 Classic successes.
But apart from his genius in the saddle, Piggott often, unwittingly, found himself in the limelight. He courted controversy off the racetrack with a complex personal life and famously being jailed for tax evasion.
Lester started riding as a young boy and, remarkably, rode his first winner as a jockey in 1948, aged just 12 years old, on a horse called The Chase at Haydock Park.
He became a teenage sensation and rode his first winner aged just 12 years old and then his first Derby winner at Epsom on Never Say Die in 1954, aged just 18.
He went on to win eight more, on Crepello (1957), St. Paddy (1960), Sir Ivor (1968), Nijinsky (1970), Roberto (1972), Empery (1976), The Minstrel (1977) and Teenoso (1983).
Dubbed 'The Long Fellow' he was 5ft 8in tall and he had a knack of getting out of trouble on and off the course.
One of his most famously when he returned from retirement and a spell in prison to win the Breeders' Cup Mile on Royal Academy at the age of 54 in 1990.
Key moments in the career of Lester Piggott
1948: Piggott, aged 12, has his first ride in public on The Chase at Salisbury on April 7. The horse provides him with his first success at Haydock on August 18.
1950: He rides 52 winners as he finishes the season champion apprentice.
1954: Piggott, now 18, partners Never Say Die (33-1) to the first of his nine Derby victories.
1960: Successes in the Derby and St Leger help to win a first jockeys’ championship with 170 successes. Marries Susan Armstrong on February 22.
1965: Rides eight winners at Royal Ascot, a score bettered only by Sir Gordon Richards with nine.
1966: Piggott wins fourth championship with his highest ever total 191, 94 clear of his nearest rival.
1970: Wins 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger on Nijinsky, the first horse to win the Triple Crown for 35 years. The pair also finish second in the Champion Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
1973: Rides Rheingold to record his first success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after 16 previous failures.
1975: Awarded OBE.
1976: Rides record seventh Derby winner on Empery.
1977: As contract rider to pools magnate Robert Sangster, Piggott wins the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes on The Minstrel.
1981: Having split with Sangster the previous year, Piggott – now attached to Henry Cecil – wins 1000 Guineas on Fairy Footsteps a week after nearly losing an ear in a starting stalls accident.
1982: Wins the last of his 11 jockeys’ championships.
1983: Teenoso carries him to his ninth win in the Derby.
1984: Piggott breaks record set by Frank Buckle 157 years previously when winning 28th classic on Commanche Run in the St Leger. Loses job with Cecil, who signs up Steve Cauthen.
1985: Retirement is announced at end of season. Rides 29th classic winner, Shadeed in the 2000 Guineas, but records only 34 victories, the last of which is on Full Choke at Nottingham, bringing career total to 4,349. Finishes second on final ride.
1986: Piggott sets up as trainer in Newmarket, saddling 30 winners including one at Royal Ascot.
1987: Wins first Classic as trainer with Lady Bentley in the Italian Oaks. Jailed for three years for tax evasion in October.
1988: Stripped of OBE. Released from prison after serving a year of sentence.
1989: Returns to saddle with three rides in Peru.
1990: Return to race riding announced and Piggott finishes close second on first ride back. Rides first winner of comeback on Nicholas, trained by wife Susan, at Chepstow. Gains memorable triumph in $1million Breeders’ Cup Mile in New York on Royal Academy.
1992: Wins 30th British classic on Rodrigo De Triano, owned by Sangster, in 2000 Guineas. The pair also collect the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Juddmonte International and Champion Stakes to earn tilt at Breeders’ Cup Classic. Fractures collar-bone and breaks two ribs in horror fall from Mr Brooks in opening race of Breeders’ Cup meeting in Miami, Florida.
1994: Rides last winner, Palacegate Jack, at Haydock on October 6.
