When Lester Piggott stunned Scottsville – and when he grabbed Dettori’s ‘crown jewels’

Lester Piggott rode one of the greatest races of his monumental career at Scottsville racecourse in Maritzburg. That the world’s best-ever jockey should win at an out-of-the-way place like Scottsville seems unlikely; that he should rate a nondescript 1600m race there as a career highlight is barely credible.

It happened in November 1975, when Piggott was on one of his regular annual visits to South Africa to visit his cousin Fred Rickaby, a top Natal trainer at the time, and to ride in an international jockey festival.

The great man had landed a ride on a bad-tempered three-year-old called The Maltster, trained by Basil Cooper. For all his skill and strength, Piggott was not able to get The Maltster to jump on terms with his rivals at the start on the Scottsville back stretch. Eventually the horse condescended to leave the starting stalls and start galloping, some 20 lengths in arrears. It was a hopeless situation – for anyone but Piggott.

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The Maltster might have thought he was a tough guy, but he’d met his match in the man they called The Long Fellow – taller than most jockeys at 5 foot 8 inches. The horse got a wake-up call and realised he’d better pull finger. A packed crowd at Scottsville watched in disbelief as the black, gold and white silks caught up, knifed through the field and won going away.

The racegoers stood as one and applauded till the old grandstand roof rattled. For a young man in that crowd, it was an unforgettable moment and sealed my infatuation with horse racing.

Gold Cup

In a book written a few years later, top jockeys were asked to recall their finest rides and Piggott singled out that day in Maritzburg – to the amazement of reviewers as other riders all opted for big-name races in grand places.

The Maltster went his mulish way and eventually hit the headlines again when he landed the 1979 Gold Cup at Greyville as a seven-year-old.

Piggott later named other horses and races when asked about his greatest ride – most notably Royal Academy in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont in New York.

He’d retired from riding in 1985, having been British champion 11 times, and taken up training. But then he was bust for tax fraud and spent a year in jail and had his OBE taken away by the queen, for whom he’d ridden many winners including a few Classics.

He returned to the saddle in 1990 and, just 12 days later, produced that stunning ride on Royal Academy in America, coming from way off the pace with the long, sustained gallop that was a trademark when in his pomp.

Asked to say something about a jaw-dropping performance at age 55, the man also known as Old Stoneface, murmured: “You don’t forget.” Later, he was a bit more expansive: “No moment in my career ever tasted sweeter.”

Greatest jockey

Lester Piggott died on Sunday 29 May 2022, aged 86, at his home in Switzerland. The global racing world has been swamped with people eager to tell their stories of the greatest jockey; the Racing Post has at least a dozen articles topping of its website. They all tell of a cut-throat, ruthless competitor with boundless self-confidence who thought nothing of doing down friends and colleagues – yet all are also effusive in admiration of unique talent, ferocious determination and quick wit.

Born into a racing family going back generations on both sides, young Lester was raised tough by no-nonsense parents. His first professional ride was at 12 and within a few months he had his first winner, The Chase, at Haydock in 1948. It was the first of about 5,500 victories worldwide – which included nine Epsom Derbies, the first of which was in 1954 on Never Say Die at 33-1. Never again would there be odds like that on a Piggott mount in Britain’s most famous race, as he became “the housewives’ choice”. Punters and occasional flutterers idolised him, because he was single-minded about winning and usually followed through.

Piggott sometimes named Sir Ivor, 1968’s 2000 Guineas and Derby winner, as the best he’d partnered, but also said: “On his day, Nijinsky was probably the most brilliant horse I’ve ever ridden.” The latter completed the near-impossible English Triple Crown in 1970.

Other superstars that felt the legendary hands, heels and machine-gun whip-hand were Shergar, Alleged, Crepello, The Minstrel, Roberto, Ribero and Commanche Run.

Honours and acclaimations are too numerous to record here; suffice to say there are nine statues of Piggott on racecourses around Britain and Ireland.

Frankie Dettori, who took over as the racing world’s favourite jockey, was a good friend of Piggott’s – having ridden for him as an apprentice when the latter was a trainer in the 1980s. On Sunday, Dettori paid tribute: “I used to crack jokes with him. The last few years that we rode, we travelled the world together – to the point that I was a bit annoying. I used to pull his leg all the time.

“And then there was the infamous moment in a Goodwood handicap when he reached under my legs and squeezed my crown jewels. When we pulled up, I said: ‘Hey, Lester, what was that about?’ He said: ‘That’ll teach you a lesson…’”