Lester Piggott is a legendary jockey hailing from Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was born in 1935, and has had an illustrious career in horse racing that spans over five decades.
Piggott has won thirty British Classics Races, nine of which were victories in the prestigious Epsom Derby. His other major accomplishments include being Champion Jockey a record eleven times and winning the French Derby four times. In addition, Lester was awarded an honorary knighthood for his sporting achievements just two years after his retirement as a professional jockey.
During his long and successful career, Lester rode more than 4500 winners on turf alone, with wins ranging from modest races to classic events. He trained some of the greatest horses of all time including Ribot, Nijinsky II and Sea Bird II – all three are inductees into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
In later years, Piggott took up training horses while still keeping a hand in riding through occasional flat racing. He retired permanently from race riding in 1995 at age 60, having ridden 2185 winners on the flat during his career that began over 50 years prior.
While Lester Piggott may have retired from professional riding and training many years ago now, he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest jockeys ever to ride a horse – one who brought tremendous success to British racing with his skillful horsemanship and commitment to excellence throughout his career.
