Lester Piggott (1935–2022)
and his Epsom connection
The sculpture of Lester Piggott at Epsom Racecourse.
Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2024
The late Lester Piggott ranks among the greatest flat-racing jockeys of all time, and his mastery of Epsom’s challenging racecourse was – and is likely to remain – unparalleled. To mark this very close relationship, the racecourse has three commemorative items. Before getting to those, we need some background.
Brief biography
Lester was born in Wantage, Berkshire on 5 November 1935, the only child of Keith and Lilian Piggott. Horse racing was in the DNA on both sides of his family and, at the time of Lester’s birth, his father was a successful National Hunt jockey, and then became a successful trainer. Lester began racing horses from his father’s stable when he was ten years old and won his first race in 1948, aged twelve, on a horse called The Chase, at Haydock Park.
By his teens, he was a sensation in the racing world, and was only 18 when, in 1954, he rode his first Derby winner, Never Say Die – the first of a so far unequalled total of nine Derby winners. Success after success followed, and his prowess as a jockey was recognised with the award of an OBE in the 1975 New Year Honours.
In 1985, the 50-year-old Lester retired as a jockey – having held the British Flat Racing Jockey title 11 times and, among his many wins, chalked up 29 British Classics – and moved into training. His Eve Lodge Stables in Newmarket housed nearly a hundred horses and, by 1987, had already sent out 34 winners. All that was cut short by his 1987 admission that he had defrauded Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of £3.25 million. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment but served only a year, being released in 1988 – having been stripped of his OBE.
In 1990, Lester returned as a jockey, famously winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park, New York. Other wins followed, and in 1992 he improved upon his unprecedented record in British Classics by winning the 2,000 Guineas.
Just short of his 58th birthday, Lester retired for a final time in October 1994, with 4,493 winners to his name, including 30 British Classic winners.
The Lester Piggott Gates
The Jockey Club wanted to mark Lester’s unique connection to Epsom, and decided to designate the VIP entrance to the grounds as ‘The Lester Piggott Gates’. To mark the gates, they commissioned the internationally famous equine artist, Roy Miller, to paint two circular images commemorating Lester’s Epsom wins in its greatest races – the Derby, the Oaks and the Coronation Cup. (The Derby and the Oaks are two of the five British Classics, which are for 3-year-old horses. The Coronation Cup – instituted in 1902 to mark the coronation of Edward VII – is for horses of 4+ years and is run over the Derby course.)
The Lester Piggott Gates.
Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2024
The gates were unveiled by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 8 June 1996 (that year’s Derby Day) with Lester Piggott in attendance.
The two circular images (which are repeated on the other side of the gates) are as below.
Lester’s major Epsom wins 1953–1969, with a younger Lester at the centre.
(Click to enlarge)
Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2024
The listed wins are:
1953 Coronation Cup on Zucchero
1954 Derby on Never Say Die
1957 Oaks on Carozza
1957 Derby on Crepello
1959 Oaks on Petit Etoile
1959 Coronation Cup on Nagami
1960 Derby on St Paddy
1960 Coronation Cup on Petit Etoile
1961 Coronation Cup on Petit Etoile
1966 Oaks on Valoris
1968 Derby on Sir Ivor
1969 Coronation Cup on Park Top
Lester’s major Epsom wins 1970–1984, with an older Lester at the centre.
(Click to enlarge)
Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2024
The listed wins are:
1970 Derby on Nijinsky
1972 Derby on Roberto
1973 Coronation Cup on Roberto
1975 Oaks on Juliette Marny
1976 Derby on Empery
1976 Coronation Cup on Quiet Fling
1977 Derby on The Minstrel
1980 Coronation Cup on Sea Chimes
1981 Oaks on Blue Wind
1983 Derby on Reenoso
1983 Coronation Cup on Be My Native
1984 Oaks on Circus Plume
At the side of the gates is the following tribute by Sir Peter O’Sullevan, the legendary racing journalist and broadcaster.
LESTER PIGGOTT
The statistics are impressive. Between 1948 and 1995 Lester Keith Piggott, Britain’s longest serving twentieth century athlete, rode 4493 firsts on the flat – 20 over hurdles and a record 30 domestic classics.
Not the least remarkable feature of a brilliant career – during which Lester and controversy galloped across the international racing scene in tandem – was the detail that for almost half a century he conditioned a 5′ 7½“ frame to operate at 21 lbs below his bodily norm.
An obsessive, single-minded, thirst for winners resulted in a further 1,200 victories achieved in no less than 26 overseas countries. But it was Epsom, the world’s most varied and demanding Grade 1 racecourse, that became his supreme arena.
No jockey has exercised a greater hold on the imagination of the sporting public. Annually as the month of June approached, the cardinal question was, ‘what will Lester ride in the Derby?’.
An instinctive ‘loner’, the 11 times champion jockey made his own decisions and employed an often breathtaking range and variety of skills to win nine Derbys. An iconoclast who became an icon.
Sir Peter O’Sullevan
The Lester Piggott sculpture
The Jockey Club later decided to mark Lester’s contribution to British horse racing with a statue of him at the nine major courses. The noted sculptor, William Newton, was commissioned and Epsom received the first of the resulting statues. It was unveiled by HM Queen Elizabeth II during the 2019 Derby meeting on 1 June – the 65th anniversary of Lester’s first Derby win.
The statue shortly after its unveiling on 1 June 2019.
The Queen is talking to Lester Piggott, behind whom is the sculptor, William Newton.
Photograph with thanks to William Newton, copyright acknowledged.
For convenience, the unveiling was by the winner’s enclosure. The statue was subsequently moved to its permanent home (as shown at the head of this article) between the two main grandstands, allowing the bronze Lester to look out over the course where he had had such success. It is surely not by chance that his gaze is directed to the winning post!
The bronze Lester looking towards Epsom’s winning post.
Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2024
The Lester Piggott Handicap
Lester Piggott died at the age of 86 in Switzerland (where he had a home) on 29 May 2022 – six days before that year’s Derby. In his honour, the racecourse renamed, on a permanent basis, the 10 furlong handicap that is the first race of Derby Day as “The Lester Piggott Handicap Stakes”.
Roger Morgan © 2024