Category: Jockeys

Did Lester Piggott ever win the Grand National?

Did Lester Piggott ever win the Grand National? Horse racing aficionados may baulk at the idea of Lester Piggott, arguably the greatest Flat jockey of all time, ever winning the Grand National, but the notion is not as absurd as it may sound on first hearing. After all, the Piggott family has connections to the Grand National; Keith Piggott, father of Lester, trained Ayala to win the world famous steeplechase in 1963 and his father, Ernie, rode Jerry M and Poethlyn to victory, in 1912 and 1918 and 1919, respectively.

Furthermore, while Lester Piggott is probably best remembered as the leading jockey in the history of the Derby, which he won nine times between 1954 and 1983, he also rode successfully over obstacles in the early years of his career. His career in the sphere of National Hunt racing was confined to hurdles, so he never rode in, never mind won, any steeplechase. Nevertheless, Piggott did record one or two high-profile successes among his 20 victories over the smaller obstacles. In early 1954, for example, he won the Birdlip Hurdle at Cheltenham on Mull Sack and the Triumph Hurdle at Hurst Park on Prince Charlemagne, en route to his first Derby success on Never Say Die the following June.

Who was the first female jockey to ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival?

Who was the first female jockey to ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival? However, the first female jockey to ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival was Caroline Robinson (née Beasley), who won the Foxhunter Chase – a race restricted to amateur jockeys – on her own horse, Eliogarty, in 1983. Originally bought by her father, Jeremy, and trained in Co. Claire, Ireland, by John Hassett, Eliogarty was once described by Robinson as ‘the greatest present anyone’s ever given me’. Three years later, Robinson won the Aintree Foxhunters on the same horse, therbey becoming the first female jockey to ride a winner over the Grand National fences, too.

Back at the Cheltenham Festival, though, the first female jockey to ride a winner against fully fledged professionals was Gee Armytage who, in 1987, won the Kim Muir Challenge Cup on The Ellier, trained by Nigel Tinkler. Just for good measure, at the same Festival, Armytage also won the Mildmay of Flete Challenge Cup on the aptly-named Gee-A, trained by Geoff Hubbard. She came close to making further history by winning the leading jockey award – the first female jockey to actually do so was Rachael Blackmore in 2021 – but lost out on ‘countback’ to Peter Scudamore.

Which jockey has ridden most winners for Charlie Appleby?

Charlie Appleby had worked for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in various capacities under Godolphin trainers David Loder, Saeed bin Suroor and Mahmood Al Zarooni before being appointed a Godolphin trainer, in his own right, in July, 2013. Appleby was thrust into the limelight under extraordinary circumstances, after Al Zarooni, who had previously held the training licence at Godolphin’s Moulton Paddocks, on the outskirts of Newmarket, was ‘warned off’ for eight years. The previous April, a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Disciplinary Panel found Al Zarooni guilty of administering banned anabolic steroids and metered out one of the most severe suspensions ever.

At the time Appleby took over at Moulton Paddocks, Silvestre de Sousa was still a retained jockey for Goldolphin, albeit as first jockey to Goldophin’s longest-standing trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, at Godolphin Stables, formerly Stanley House, in Newmarket. However, when William Buick and James Doyle joined Godolphin as retained jockeys in January, 2015, de Sousa lost his retainer. Buick is officially first jockey to Charlie Appleby and, as such, has ridden the lion’s share of winners for the yard. At the last count, he had ridden 346 winners from 1,296 rides, at a strike rate of 27%. Unremarkably, Doyle is next best, with 132 winners from 522 rides, at a strike rate of 26%, but Adam Kirby, who has ridden most of his winners for the yard on all-weather surfaces, isn’t far behind, with 104 winners from 343 rides, at a strike rate of 30%.

 

What’s Sam Twiston-Davies’ strike rate for his father?

At the time of writing, Sam Twiston-Davies lies second in the 2021/22 Jump Jockeys’ Championship with 46 winners from 304 rides, at an overall strike rate of 15%. For his father, Nigel Twiston-Davies, who is based at Grange Hill Farm in Naunton, Gloucestershire, he has ridden 10 winners from 84 rides, at a strike rate of 12%. In his career as a whole, his father has been his principal benefactor, supplying him with 499 winners, albeit from 3,293 rides, at a modest strike of 15%. By contrast, for Paul Nicholls and Dr. Richard Newland, who are the only other trainers for whom he has ridden over a hundred winners, Twiston-Davies has a career record of 280-1,233 (23%) and 188-799 (24%).

Twiston-Davies, 29, famously won the Christie’s Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, 2010, on Baby Run, trained by his father, at the age of 17. The following season, 2010/11, he won the conditional jockeys’ title and, in May, 2014, replaced Daryl Jacob as stable jockey to Paul Nicholls. Indeed, the 2014/15 season proved to be his most successful ever, numerically and fiscally, with 145 winners and over £2 million in prize money for the one and only time in his career.

In May, 2018, in the face of increased competition for rides at Manor Farm Stables from Harry Cobden, Sean Bowen and Bryony Frost, Twiston-Davies left Nicholls to go freelance. Nonetheless, he rode 104 winners in 2018/19, 99 winners in 2019/20 – bringing up 1,000 winners in Britain and Ireland at Southwell in June, 2019 – and 83 winners in 2020/21.

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