The equestrian world is mourning the loss of one of the greatest Flat jockeys of all time, Lester Piggott, who died on 29 May aged 86.

Lester’s family confirmed he died “peacefully” in Switzerland on Sunday morning. He had been receiving treatment in hospital that week.

Known for his unique and distinctive style, the “Long Fellow”, who was almost 5ft 8in tall, had a background steeped in racing. Lester’s grandfather Ernie was a champion jump jockey, his father Keith a successful jockey turned trainer, and his mother Iris was of the great Rickaby racing family.

Lester rode his first winner aged 12, and his first Derby winner six years later, when he rode Never Say Die to victory at Epsom in 1954. He was champion jockey 11 times, and won a record 30 British Classics.

Tributes have poured in from across the equestrian and racing community. Three-time champion jockey Frankie Dettori said Lester was “the greatest of all time” and described him as his “hero”. Champion trainer Jonjo O’Neill said Lester was a “legend of the sport” and a “true gentleman”.

Presenter Clare Balding described Lester as an “iconic figure” in world sport and British culture.

“He always said the most important attribute for a Derby winner was balance. Having him on board always helped – we will remember him fondly,” she said.

Lester rode 4,493 winners between 1948 and 1995. He often spoke fondly of Crepello, winner of the 2000 Guineas and the Derby in 1957 – the same year he won the Oaks with The Queen’s Carrozza. His other many achievements included winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot a record 11 times, and taking the 1970 Triple Crown on Nijinsky. Following a difficult period in his life when he spent a year in prison, in 1987 to 1988 for tax fraud, he made a victorious comeback in 1990, winning the Breeders Cup Mile at Belmont Park on Royal Academy, aged 54. In 1992 he won his 30th British Classic, the 2,000 Guineas on Rodrigo De Triano, and in 1995 he officially retired, aged 59.

In 2018 nine life-size bronze statues were commissioned in honour of Lester’s achievements, 65 years after his first Derby win. They were unveiled at various racecourses around the UK including Epsom.

“Everyone at Epsom Downs is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lester Piggott. To win nine Derbys and six renewals of the Oaks as a jockey over the course of almost three decades is an extraordinary achievement, which may never be surpassed,” said Phil White, regional director of The Jockey Club’s London region.

“As we build up to this year’s race we will ensure that his passing is recognised in an appropriate way over the duration of the two days. The Lester Piggott gates at the entrance to Epsom Downs and his statue which overlooks the winning line will always honour one of our sport’s great champions.”

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The legendary champion jockey Lester Piggott and the unbeaten Frankel have become the first two members of a new hall of fame celebrating Flat racing.

The QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame has been launched to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the series, and will “immortalise the modern greats of the sport”, who have achieved “remarkable things” since 1970.

“On the basis of their undisputed status and achievements within the sport, Lester Piggott and Frankel are the first two champions to become hall of famers,” said a spokesman for the series.

Lester, an 11-time champion jockey, enjoyed a career of almost 50 years and rode 4,493 winners including 30 British Classics. The 85-year-old lives in Switzerland and received a specially commissioned medal marking his induction.

“It is an honour to become the first jockey – and the first person – to be inducted and I am truly delighted to receive this special medal,” said Lester.

“I feel fortunate to have spent many brilliant years riding such incredible horses and I’m touched to see my story so well preserved through this initiative. The hall of fame is a terrific concept and something that racing has deserved for so many years. Our sport has such an incredible history and I hope that this provides an opportunity for many others to learn about it.”

Lester added it was “only right” that Frankel is the first horse to be inducted.

“He did everything so easily and was the best by far during his time. He is the one horse I wish I could have ridden,” he said.

Frankel is the “highest-rated” racehorse in history; unbeaten in 14 starts and winner of 10 Group One races.

“Frankel, trained by the late, great Sir Henry Cecil, was simply on a different level and seemed to revel in blitzing his rivals with speed, stamina and an abnormally huge stride pattern,” said the spokesman.

“His emotional farewell at QIPCO British Champions Day 2012 came in front of The Queen and a sell-out Ascot crowd, with Frankel fending off previous winner Cirrus Des Aigles to win the QIPCO Champion Stakes, securing an official rating of 141 (which is still unbeaten) and signing off a remarkable, unbeaten career.”

Continued below…

Frankel wins 14 out of 14 and retires to stud

Frankel lives up to all the hype and retires unbeaten after victory on QIPCO British Champions Day

Legends of the sport: All-time great Flat jockey Lester Piggott

The Flat jockey’s killer instinct, unique style and tremendous race record secured him a place with the all-time greats –

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Tom Queally, Frankel’s jockey, said he was pleased that Frankel’s “unblemished” career had been acknowledged in the hall of fame.

“I’m especially delighted that he is the first racehorse to be given the accolade. I will always fondly remember the moments I spent with him,” he said.

The next inductions will take place ahead of the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on 15 October, where Lester and connections of Frankel will attend as guests of honour.

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An 83-year-old racing fan had an exciting start to the new year when he received a personal video message from his “hero” Lester Piggott, thanking him for his support over the years.

The surprise message was organised by Foxholes Care Home, Hertfordshire, for resident Alfred Lewis as part of its Wish Upon A Star campaign, which tries to connect residents with their idols.

Alf’s boyhood dream was to become a jockey and he followed Lester’s career avidly, often watching him from the stands throughout the 60s and 70s.

During that time, Alf attended the Epsom Derby on 10 occasions, always backing nine-time victor Lester.

“My uncle had a farm in Essex where I used to ride the horses, probably from the age of 10 or even younger. I fell in love with the sport and always wanted to become a jockey like Lester — I was the perfect size! I would have liked to have gone to Newmarket and trained as one,” said Alf, a former British Army chef.

Lester, 85, rode 4,493 winners in his 42-year career and was champion Flat jockey on 11 occasions. He won his first race in 1948 at the age of 12 and is broadly regarded as one of the greatest Flat jockeys of all time.

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“Alf was delighted to receive a personalised message from his racing idol Lester, and we’re all delighted to see how much it meant to him – he’s followed Lester’s career very closely and has had the fortune of being able to see him race in the flesh. Receiving the surprise message made Alf’s day, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Adele Querele, activities coordinator at Foxholes.

“It’s important to make sure our residents are stimulated mentally, physically and socially – especially this year with the restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. We always try and go that extra mile to create special moments for our residents and the Wish Upon a Star project has been a great way to continue putting those all-important smiles on our residents’ faces.”

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The Flat jockey’s killer instinct, unique style and tremendous race record secured him a place with the all-time greats – despite a chequered personal life, writes Julian Muscat

It was a sight as distinctive as it was reassuring. When Lester Piggott was still standing bolt upright as jockeys around him crouched low into their saddles, his legion of backers would start counting their money. Never mind that there might have been another furlong left to run. Piggott’s silhouette in cruise control always told its own story. Then he would shift his weight imperceptibly and his mount, duly prompted, would gallop away to victory.

You couldn’t mistake the “Long Fellow” for anyone else. Uncommonly tall for a Flat jockey at more than 5ft 7in, Piggott developed a riding style that was all his own. He had an aquiline presence: perched high above the withers, motionless and unblinking, poised to strike with deadly effect.

That’s why Piggott held the nation in thrall, from owners and trainers right through to housewives having their annual flutter on the Derby – a race Piggott won a record nine times.

No other equestrian pursuit is as immersed in betting as horse racing. It was an act of blind faith for punters to entrust their hard-earned to the man in the saddle. But then, Piggott and his fans were united in a single cause. Winning was all that mattered.

So much so that Piggott’s gilded career would also trawl the depths. Disdainful of authority and impervious to anything in his path, he would pay a heavy price. In 1987, he served the first of a three year jail sentence for tax evasion after he was less than forthcoming with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, prompting Her Majesty to strip him of the OBE he’d been awarded 12 years earlier.

That royal censure torments him to this day. As the late Sir Peter O’Sullevan, one of Piggott’s closest confidantes, told me when discussing the jockey in 2013: “Going to prison really changed Lester because it was like imprisoning a wild bird in a cage. He coped with that, but what really upset him was losing his OBE. He felt the tax matter wasn’t at all connected to his other achievements.”

That sorry chapter was as sad as it was almost inevitable. O’Sullevan’s “wild bird” analogy is apt for a man who was intensely groomed for saddle life from the day he was born. It would bear fruit, even if his upbringing was woefully short of human empathy.

A landslide record

Most records in racing are broken because the fixture list keeps expanding, in the process providing jockeys with increased opportunities. Yet Britain’s five Classic races have endured for more than 200 years. Piggott’s haul of 30 remains a landslide record. Furthermore, Piggott won 14 of the 15 Classics in Britain, Ireland and France. No other jockey has come close.

His record alone speaks volumes, although riding prowess was only part of the equation. Piggott’s public persona – diffident and truculent, uncommunicative and curmudgeonly – was a legacy of the burning ambition his mother fostered in him.

Iris Rickaby hailed from a family steeped in jockeys. “It was all down to the way Lester was brought up, with his mother putting the brakes on all the time,” O’Sullevan said. “As a Rickaby she had seen jocks fall by the wayside and their extravagant excesses. She was determined the same wouldn’t happen to her son.”

O’Sullevan’s view is corroborated by Jimmy Lindley, much of whose riding career overlapped with Piggott’s. “From a very young age, Lester’s mother could see he was going to become quite tall,” he says.

“She ran much of Lester’s early life, especially his diet,” Lindley continues. “I think he would have become too heavy and lost interest were it not for his mother. His life was very restricted; he never had a childhood. Nothing ever came into his life except horses.”

Nor was his father Keith, a jockey-turned-trainer, any sort of mitigating influence. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Keith was absolutely terrified the flame [in Piggott] would be extinguished,” O’Sullevan said. “When Lester rode over hurdles in his youth, Keith encouraged him to put other jockeys through the wings.

“If Keith was coming to the last in a hurdle race and was lying 14th of 15, he’d put the jockey behind him through the wings as a matter of course. Keith was a hard man. He wanted to bring up a hard son to do the job.”

Between them, Piggott’s parents inclined to overkill in their tutoring. The fact that Piggott was an uncommunicative child was not entirely down to partial deafness in one ear and a slight speech impediment.

This, then, was the backstory to a man whose ruthless exploitation of his gifts would see him rewrite the prevailing master/servant relationship between trainers and jockeys. It was a detail that resonated with blue-collar punters: he was their champion, a man in fear of nobody, least of all crusty racecourse stewards, in a career that spanned five decades.

A rough school

He rode his first winner when he was 12. Six years on and he’d won the first of his nine Derbys aboard Never Say Die, in 1954. By then, aged 18, he was already a weighing-room mainstay, riding at a time when patrol cameras monitoring the action did not exist.

In those days, race-riding was a rough school, more akin to the Wild West. And the loner with a face of stone was the deadliest gunslinger in town.

“Back then, Lester would try to win at all costs,” says Joe Mercer, another contemporary of Piggott who was champion jockey in 1979. “When he was an apprentice, the senior guys got very upset because he showed them no respect. He filled every hole, did everything he shouldn’t do.”

Piggott’s repeated acts of daring came to a head at Royal Ascot two weeks after Never Say Die’s Derby triumph. Riding the same horse, he was adjudged to have caused serious interference after Sir Gordon Richards, the doyen among jockeys who’d been knighted the previous year, pinned the blame on Piggott during a stewards’ inquiry.

In consequence, Piggott was banned indefinitely and made to work away from the stable of his father, whom The Jockey Club perceived as a bad influence. Soon after Richards retired, the stewards suggested Piggott should reapply for his licence and he returned after a 12-week hiatus with typical defiance. He rode a winner on his comeback ride at Newmarket.

In Mercer’s eye, that four-month stint at Newmarket with his uncle, Jack Jarvis, had the desired effect. “He was a bit of a rascal, but after that, he seemed to grow out of it,” Mercer says. “It did him good, but he was still a tough cookie.”

If anything, the explosive talent of a man born on Guy Fawkes Night – 5 November 1935 – was heightened by his enforced absence. He may have ridden less aggressively, but he was still consumed by desire. He was also courted by Noel Murless, who trained at Warren Place Stables, in Newmarket.

Theirs was an alliance that would span 12 seasons punctuated by a herd of signature horses. Crepello, sometimes cited by Piggott as the best horse he rode, won the 2000 Guineas and Derby in 1957. In that year, Piggott also won the Oaks aboard The Queen’s Carrozza.

Yet the horse that defined the Piggott/Murless axis was the dappled grey filly, Petite Etoile. A three-year-old in 1959, Petite Etoile won all six of her starts that season, among them the 1000 Guineas and Oaks, together with the Yorkshire Oaks, Sussex Stakes and Champion Stakes. Doubtless abetted by Piggott on her back, she built up a devoted public following. All of which served to render the 1960 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes the most contentious of races. It saw the settling of some private feuds among jockeys. Piggott was the victim.

Between them, Scobie Breasley and Geoff Lewis ensured Piggott and Petite Etoile had no racing room throughout the race, in which Aggressor, ridden by Jimmy Lindley, made the running on rain softened ground that was not to Petite Etoile’s liking.

“Scobie and Geoff were great mates,” Lindley relates. “They both had the needle with Lester, who’d done something to upset them. In the race, they gave Lester no quarter and I rumbled this as I rode along out in front.

“I heard shouting behind me as we went into the home turn,” Lindley continues. “I sensed trouble so I kicked as hard as I could. Aggressor was a good stayer and the advantage I poached saw me home after Lester had become trapped on the inside.”

Piggott was roundly slated for his ride after Petite Etoile finished second at prohibitive odds of 2/5. “To be fair to him, he never said a word about it,” Lindley recalls. “Not a single word of complaint.”

On that day, Piggott reaped what he sowed. Despite his links with Murless he rode for a spate of other trainers, often dislodging other jockeys from regular mounts on big days.

“He became the ruthless killer that he was, taking rides from everybody,” says Steve Cauthen, the crack American jockey who came to ride in Britain, aged 17, in 1978. “If a trainer didn’t want him on a horse, he’d call the horse’s owner.

“He could get away with it because he was so phenomenally gifted. They used to call him ‘JC’ in the weighing room. He could walk on water; he could get people eating out of his hands.”

That was Piggott in a nutshell. Just about every other jockey lived in daily dread that Piggott would “jock them off” their best rides. As Vincent O’Brien, the trainer for whom Piggott rode a succession of great horses, replied when asked about the merit of having Piggott riding for you: “It means he isn’t riding against you.”

Cauthen cites several facets to Piggott’s all-round brilliance. “There’s no question he was an exceptional horseman through and through,” he says, “but that’s only part of it. He was the best at getting on the best horse, and when he did, he rode them with great confidence.

“He also knew the strengths and weaknesses of the horses he was riding against, and he had the killer instinct and raw desire. Desire is probably the most important thing. It doesn’t necessarily make you happy, but it makes you the most successful. For Lester, that was everything.”

The cold eye of an assassin

Then there was Piggott’s intimidating aura. This was amplified vividly by the late Hugh McIlvanney, the signature sports writer in Britain for four decades. He put it to me thus: “When Piggott walked into the paddock before the Derby, it was like seeing Marlon Brando on the screen. You couldn’t look at anything else. It wasn’t that he was so much taller than any of the jockeys; there was that sense of aloofness, almost a kind of aura of superiority.”

And then there was Piggott’s initial connection with a horse when he was legged aboard in the paddock. Having stared down the opposition with the cold eye of an assassin, he would turn his attention to his mount.

By any definition, Julie Krone is the most successful female jockey of all time: so far the only one to win a US Triple Crown race, and the only one to ride a Breeders’ Cup winner. She rode more than 3,700 winners in her 22-year career.

Krone had a handful of rides at the Breeders’ Cup meeting in 1985, when Piggott was also in action. She resolved to take a closer look at the man about whom she had read and heard so much, but had never previously seen in the flesh. She went down to the paddock before the Breeders’ Cup Turf, in which Piggott was riding Theatrical.

“All the stuff I’d read about him; he’d been such a huge image in my mind and when I saw him, he was no different in person,” she recalls. “That wily personality and that tom-cat physique; and from the moment he started moving towards his horse in the paddock, he was like liquid mercury.

“He got a leg up and sat purposefully soft,” Krone continues. “You could see the quality of his horsemanship in every movement: his lower back all relaxed, but at the same time his upper back not collapsed at all. Whatever he had, it looked to me like he had it from the first moment he ever sat in a saddle.

“Going to post, he sat dead still. He let that horse use its whole body. And the horse broke from the gate, quite a hard-pulling horse, and he fed it the reins. Before you knew it, he had his position, the reins were loose and the horse was totally relaxed. It was beautiful to watch, just beautiful.”

The fact that Piggott finished nearer last than first was totally academic. Krone had seen for herself why Lester Piggott stood alone.

Steve Cauthen on Piggott

“Lots of rides stand out, but one summed him up that was typical and very funny,” says Steve, Piggott’s American counterpart. “In a finish at Deauville, Lester had his whip knocked out of his hand, so he leant over and snatched [rival jockey] Alain Lequeux’s whip from him. Lester went on to finish a close second, so it nearly came off. Just the thought of anyone doing that: that will to win, and raw desire.

“He used to make us laugh like crazy. He was one of the richest guys in the world, but he’d do anything to avoid having to pay his way. He’d never pay for the ice creams and would get lifts to the races with guys who could barely afford to drive. He was a funny bird in that way. I doubt we’ll ever see another like him again.”

“You had to admire him secretly,” says Jimmy. “He’d nick a ride from you, but have no issue with asking you about the ins and outs of the horse before he rode it.

“For me, his best ride was winning the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile on Royal Academy. He’d only had a handful of rides, having just come out of retirement at the age of 54. He’d been off for a few years, so to come back with the edge he showed that day was extraordinary. He was probably the all-time great. There’s no one thing you can put your finger on; it was the all-round package.”

Julie Krone on Piggott

“He rode so differently to most jockeys I grew up riding with in America,” says Julie. “He just pinched on his horse and let his reins go: there’d be no scrubbing or rowing. The horse would feel him change his weight, and that was its cue. The fire of his body heating up, and his focus on getting the horse to go faster: horses just ran for him like it was magic.”

Joe Mercer on Piggott

“Lester and I were apprentices together,” says Joe. “I’ve known him since I was 14 and he hasn’t changed at all. When he first went to America, he came back with goggles and raised his stirrups a couple of notches. Everyone copied him, although his riding style was unique.

“He rode so many big-race winners, but one that stands out was when he won the 1972 Derby on Roberto by a whisker. It was spectacular. The way he hit that horse was like machine-gun fire. People say he was hard on the horses, but he’d hit them on the top of their flanks, not under the girth as you see today. His horses always came back for more.”

Piggott’s career in numbers

• Champion jockey in Britain 11 times
• Won a record 30 British Classics, among them a record nine Derbys
• Won the Derby’s equivalent in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Singapore and Slovakia
• Won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot a record 11 times
• Won the 1970 Triple Crown aboard Nijinsky, the last horse to achieve it
• Rode 4,493 winners between 1948 and 1995

Greatest horses he rode

1957: Crepello, winner of the 2000 Guineas and Derby

1959: Petite Etoile, winner of the 1000 Guineas, Oaks, Sussex Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and Champion Stakes

1968: Sir Ivor, winner of the 2000 Guineas, Derby, Champion Stakes and Washington DC International

1969: Park Top, winner of the Coronation Cup and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

1970: Nijinsky, winner of the Triple Crown

1972: Roberto, winner of the Derby

1977/78: Alleged, winner of consecutive renewals of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

1981: Ardross, “stayers” Triple Crown and Prix Royal-Oak winner

Ref Horse & Hound; 18 June 2020

Racing legend Lester Piggott has been admitted to hospital and is undergoing routine tests, but according to his daughter Maureen Haggas, he is “bright and doing well”.

The 83-year-old former top jockey, regarded as one of the greatest Flat riders of all time, was taken to a hospital in London last weekend. He has suffered from heart problems in the past and doctors have been monitoring him closely.

“My father is doing well,” Maureen — wife of Flat trainer William Haggas — told Horse & Hound. “At the moment, he is in hospital having tests done. However, he is bright and playing backgammon at present.”

Lester was triumphant in nine Derbys at Epsom and won close to 5,300 races across the globe during his illustrious riding career.

In 1970, Lester partnered Nijinsky to win the Triple Crown, having been victorious in the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger all in the same year.

Lester enjoyed a flourishing association with the great Irish racehorse trainer Vincent O’Brien. The trainer-jockey duo teamed up successfully to win the 2,000 Guineas and Derby in 1968 with Sir Ivor and the 1977 Derby with The Minstrel. The pair also took the honours in the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1977 and 1978 with Alleged, among other great victories.

Continued below…

Racing legend honoured with nine life-size bronze statues

The champion jockey has won the Derby nine times

Treat a friend to the gift that keeps on giving…

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Aged 54, Lester made one of the most brilliant comebacks in sport when winning the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile in America aboard Royal Academy — a fortnight after he had made an astonishing return to riding on Britain soil, after getting on the wrong side of the law for tax fraud.

At 5ft8in, Lester was famously tall for a Flat jockey and was nicknamed the “Long Fellow”. Despite this, he managed to ride at around eight stone throughout his career.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Nine life-size bronze statues have been created in commemoration of champion jockey Lester Piggott, 65 years since his first Derby win.

The statues have been sculpted by Willie Newton to celebrate Lester’s nine Derby wins, with the first four sculptures to be unveiled by Lester in May and June 2019 at Newmarket racecourse, Wantam Museum, and York and Epsom racecourses.

Willie Newton, who has previously created life-size bronze statues of John Oaksey and Jack Berry at the Injured Jockeys Rehabilitation Centre said: “I first met Lester when he was the subject and inspiration for the Vodafone Derby Trophy I made in 2002, so to be asked to create this very special life-size bronze of him is for me just about as important as it gets.”

The first statue will open at Newmarket racecourse on 2,000 Guineas day before being moved to its permanent home at the National Heritage Centre at Palace House.

Lester said: “I am really honoured and grateful to have this project around a race that meant so much to me and I am so looking forward to the unveilings next spring.”

Newmarket racecourse Amy Starkey said: “We are thrilled to be doing the first unveiling on 2,000 Guineas day. Lester is an institution as well as an inspiration to all of us here.”

The second statue will open at York racecourse and is being placed next to the new weighing room.

Chief executive of York racecourse William Derby said: “Lester says that the Knavesmire was always his favourite track and now all jockeys will pass his statue before going out to ride.”

The third statue will open at Wantage Museum, the town where Lester was born.

Curator of Wantage museum Suzie Tilbury said: “Horse racing is very much part of our heritage so having this bronze of racing legend and Wantage’s most famous modern-day son (King Alfred was born here back in 849 AD) is a great but also an appropriate honour for what we are doing here.”

The fourth statue can be seen at Epsom racecourse on 1 June on Derby day.

General manager of Epsom racecourse Simon Durrant said: “We already have the Piggott Gates with their great Peter O’Sullevan tribute to ‘the iconoclast who became an icon’, but to have a life-size statue of the man who dominated Epsom like no other will be a special bonus.”

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Racing honours top jockeys

This year's "Lesters" sees Piggot celebrating the achievements of top jockeys in a glittering night at the racing world's Oscars

Happy 80th birthday to racing legend Lester Piggott *PICTURES*

 The project began with an idea from journalist Neil Morrice, joined by Geoffrey Hughes, director of Osborne Studio Gallery and journalist Brough Scott.

Brough Scott said: “Everyone forgets, and quite soon everyone may even forget Lester Piggott. This project is to ensure that they don’t.”

The locations of the remaining five statutes are still to be confirmed.

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If someone knows very little about racing, they still know about Lester Piggott, who turns 80 today (5 November 2015).

With 4,493 British winners to his name — including nine Derbys, eight St Legers, six Oaks, five 2,000 Guineas, two 1,000 Guineas and 116 Royal Ascot victories — the former Flat jockey became a household name at the height of his career, and he remains synonymous with the sport today.

Unusually tall for a Flat jockey at nearly 5ft8in, Lester was known as the “Long Fellow“, but still managed to keep his weight down to 8st 5lb.

He won his first race on the Flat at just 12-years-old, at Haydock Park in August 1948 and conincidentally his 4,493rd and last win was also at Haydock, in October 1994.

No one will forget his comeback to the saddle in 1990, aged 54, when he took the Breeders’ Cup Mile with Royal Academy. By then, Lester had been out of the saddle for five years, including a stint in prison following his conviction for tax evasion.

Whether it is that comeback that stands out, or any one of his nine Derby wins, Lester has achieved more than most can hope to by the age of 80.

We celebrate Lester Piggott’s 80th birthday in pictures

1948

Lester, aged 12, sits on a fence at his father Keith’s stables in Lambourn in 1948.

1962

Lester post-race, aged 26.

Continued below…

1965

Lester on Meadow Court at Ascot, on whom he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1965. He went on to win the race seven times in total with Aunt Edith (1966), Park Top (1969), Nijinsky (1970), Dahlia (1974), The Minstrel (1977) and Teenoso (1984).

1970

Lester rides the Vincent O’Brien-trained Nijinsky, who he won the 1970 Derby on. He first rode in the race at 15 and his other eight Derby wins were with Never Say Die in 1954, when Lester was just 18-years-old, with Crepello (1957), St. Paddy (1960), Sir Ivor (1968), Roberto (1972), Empery (1976), The Minstrel (1977) and his last win was in 1983 with Teenoso, when Lester was 47.

1976

Lester talks to the late Henry Cecil in 1976 at Goodwood.

1977

Lester having won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with the Vincent O’Brien-trained Alleged in 1977. The pair went on to reclaim the title the following year, with Lester having already won it in 1973 with the Barry Hill-trained Rheingold.

1991

Lester in action in August 1991, following his comeback to the sport.

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Lester Piggott’s son, Jamie, is set to try and follow in his father’s footsteps as he makes his racing debut at Killarney tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 18 July).

The 19-year-old, who is Lester’s only son, will ride his first race for trainer Tommy Stack in the 2.55pm Killarney Grand Live Music Handicap at the County Kerry venue.

His mount, Pivotal Rock, is a six-year-old gelding by Pivotal. He has won twice and came 4th in his last outing last week at Dundalk Racecourse.

Piggott started riding out for Stack 5 years ago when still at school.

“He’s been coming here since he was a kid during the holidays. We’ll take it from here and see how he gets on,” said Stack’s son and assistant, Fozzy.

“He’s also had some experience at Ballydoyle and he’s a nice kid. I don’t know if anybody will be as good as Lester.

“This horse usually runs his race so we’ll see how he goes. We’re hoping for a good day.”

His father, now aged 77, won his first race in 1948 when he was just 12 and went on to ride more than 4,000 winners during his career. Lester was also Flat champion jockey 11 times and was only 18 when he rode the first of his 9 Derby winners.

The bookies seem to believe that Jamie will have inherited his father’s talent and have him 10-1 to be crowned Champion Apprentice in Ireland before the end of 2015 and 50-1 to be crowned Champion Jockey in the UK before the end of 2018.

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Lester Piggott is making good progress after being admitted to hospital in Switzerland suffering from heart problems.

The legendary jockey had a recurrence of the problem that led to him spending five days in West Suffolk Hospital at Christmas.

Lester, 71, was admitted to hospital in Lausanne on Monday night after complaining of feeling unwell, but son-in-law William Haggas told www.racingpost.co.uk on Tuesday evening: “I have just spoken to [my wife] Maureen and she feels Lester is in no danger of losing his life.

“He is talking about getting out of hospital tomorrow [Wednesday] and obviously that’s a no-hope, but it’s a good sign as it shows he doesn’t think it’s too much.”

In response to the scare, Newmarket Racecourse has postponed ‘Lester Piggott Day’ on Saturday. The special day had been organised to mark the 50th anniversary of Lester’s first 2,000 Guineas winner.

But Newmarket managing director Lisa Hancock said: “Lester Piggott Day without the great man present would have had an empty feel.

“Lester was so looking forward to the day, but as he convalesces he can look forward to it later in the year.”

Saturday will now be a normal raceday at the Suffolk venue.

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Racing legend Lester Piggott is in intensive care in Switzerland following the recurrence of a heart problem.

The 71-year-old, who is widely regarded as the greatest jockey of all time, is in hospital in Lausanne. It is believed that his wife Susan and daughter Maureen are by his side.

The former 11-times champion jockey, who retired from the saddle in 1994, was admitted to the West Suffolk Hospital at Christmas with a heart problem. After a stay of five days, he was allowed home.

Son-in-law William Haggas told www.telegraph.co.uk: “The latest news we have is that Lester is conscious and coherent.”

Jockeys await their fate

The Horseracing Regulatory Authority’s enquiry into alleged corrupt practices is set to reconvene at 2pm today, Friday 16 February. Many expect that the most well known of the defendants, Robert Winston, will be warned off after being found guilty of race-fixing. The fate of the others set to come before the enquiry – Fran Ferris, Robbie Fitzpatrick, Luke Fletcher, Ian Nicholl and four other unlicensed individuals – also hangs in the balance this afternoon.

Newmarket honours Lester Piggott

Newmarket racecourse is to stage a day of racing in honour of Lester Piggott later this year. The final details are still to be finalised but it is expected to take place on Saturday, 19 May, some 50 years after his first 2,000 Guineas win on Crepello. Piggott, 71, rode 30 British Classic winners during his amazing career.

Lisa Hancock, manager director of Newmarket, said: “Lester is a legend and one of Newmarket’s most famous residents. We felt a day named after him, 50 years on from his Guineas win, would be the perfect way to honour him.”

Trainer fined over cruelty case

Trainer Richard Guest has been fined £2,750 by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority on Thursday after admitting animal cruelty in a court case last November. Guest and his two head grooms Richard Dalton and Louise Tidman were prosecuted by the RSPCA and received two-year conditional discharges. The case surrounded the death of What’s A Filly, who had to be put down after suffering a severe infection of her near-hind leg.

Aintree’s MD to take over at Ascot

The current managing director of Aintree Racecourse, Charles Barnett, is to become the new chief executive of Ascot racecourse. Barnett, 58, has been managing director at Aintree since 1993. He will join Ascot in May, by which time the current work being undertaken to fix the problems associated with the £20m redevelopment of the course is expected to be completed. Barnett said: “Ascot is the best known racecourse in the world and I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with the board and the team there.”

Trainer crushed by falling hay

Trainer Norman Babbage is currently recovering in hospital after being crushed when two large bales of hay fell on top of him leaving him with a broken knee and internal injuries. The 44-year-old was filling haynets when some bales at the top of the stack worked their way loose and fell on top of him.

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Lester Piggott in heart scare

Racing legend Lester Piggott, 71, has been given the all clear after spending Christmas in hospital. He was admitted to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds on Christmas Eve after feeling unwell and underwent tests for a suspected heart problem. The tests did not show any cause for concern and he was discharged on 29 December. Piggott retired from racing in 1994 after 4,493 career wins including nine Epsom Derby victories.

Kauto Star heads Gold Cup entries

Kauto Star is favourite to win the 2007 Cheltenham Gold Cup following an impressive performance in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day. He will be facing 2006 winner War of Attrition in the race, but his King George rivals Exotic Dancer and Racing Demon are expected to contest the Ryanair Chase at the festival instead. War of Attrition is expected to go straight to Cheltenham in March without any further races. He finished third in his last race, the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown

Derby tickets going cheap

Grandstand tickets for this year’s Vodaphone Derby will be £2 cheaper this year than previously at £32 each. The price reduction is due to the ongoing work at Epsom racecourse, which is going to reduce both the capacity and facilities available to racegoers. Only 5,000 grandstand tickets will be available and priority will be given to those who have attended in meeting in recent years. A new pedestrian enclosure called the Tattenham Straight will be set up to cater for those who are unable to get tickets in the grandstand to watch Britain’s richest race.

Racehorse injured after fireworks party

The dangers fireworks pose to horses have been highlighted once again as a racehorse broke her pelvis after being startled by nearby fireworks on New Year’s Eve. The mare was stabled at Joss Saville’s yard in Lancashire. The five-year-old is being treated for her injuries but the prognosis remains guarded at this stage. Read H&H’s full story on this accident in next Thursday’s issue (11 January, 07)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now