Category: Jockeys

Unquestionably the most famous jockey of his generation, Lester Piggott rode 4,493 winners on the Flat, plus another 20 over hurdles, and won the Flat Jockeys’ Championship 11 times, in 1960, 1964–71, and 1981–82. He rode an unprecedented 30 English Classic winners, including a record nine Derby winners, and famously won the English Triple Crown on Nijinsky in 1970.

Piggott was never knighted but, in 1975, was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to horse racing. He retired from race riding, for the first time, in 1985 and switched his attention to training, with no little success. However, in October, 1987, Piggott was prosecuted and found guilty of personal tax fraud after failing to declare income of £3.25 million to the Inland Revenue. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment – at the time, the most severe sentence in British history – of which he served one year before being released on parole, in October, 1988. During his time in prison, Piggott was stripped of his OBE.

Piggott returned to race riding in October, 1990, famously winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park, New York on Royal Academy 12 days later. He also won his thirtieth and final English Classic, the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, on Rodrigo De Triano, in 1992 before retiring for good in September, 1995.

Oisin Murphy, who was champion jockey in 2019 and 2020, hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, not for the first time, on Friday, October 8, 2021. For the second time in his career, Murphy failed a racecourse breathalyser test and was consequently stood down for the day by the stewards and referred to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Disciplinary Panel.

Murphy led the jockeys’ championship by 11 winners at the start of the day and his five rides at Newmarket were to have included Mise En Scene in the Group 1 Bet365 Fillies’ Mile. Murphy tweeted that his test result had been ‘under the drink-drive limit [35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath] but over the riding limit [20 micrograms per 100 millilitres]’.

Murphy first failed a racecourse breathalyser test at Salisbury on June 16, 2019, as a result of which he was stood down for the day and received a caution. Fortunately for him, his latest infraction fell outside the 24-month timeframe stipulated by the BHA and, as such, is treated as a ‘first offence’, rather than a ‘second offence’, for which a 10-day ban is the entry point. Of course, Murphy also served a three-month ban, imposed by France Galop, after testing positive for cocaine at Chantilly in July, 2020, so may need to moderate his off-course behaviour if he is to remain at the top of his profession.

At the time of his retirement, for the first time, in 1985, Lester Piggott had won 29 British Classics, including a record nine wins in the Derby, and won the jockeys’ title 11 times. Two years later, he admitted defrauding Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of £3.25 million and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Piggott served 366 days and was released in 1988.

Two years later, Piggott resumed his riding career, famously winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park, New York on Royal Academy, trained by Vincent O’Brien, in 1990. Two years later still, in 1992, improved upon his unprecendented record in British Classics by winning the 2,000 Guineas on Rodrigo De Triano, trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam.

The son of El Gran Senor had lost his unbeaten record when only fourth in the Greenham Stakes on his reappearance at Newbury the previous month, when ridden by Willie Carson. However, ridden for the first time by Piggott, Rodrigo De Triano won the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarker and followed up in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh two weeks later, again under Piggott. Later the same season, the partnership also won the Juddmonte International Stakes ar York and the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. Piggott finally retired for a final time in October, 1994, with 4,493 winners to his name, including 30 British Classic winners.