"with rot. A new stand was built, one of the first fully cantilevered reinforced concrete stands to be built in Britain and the first with private viewing boxes. However, the cost put a great strain on the course's finances and within two years financial difficulties persuaded the shareholders to sell the site. The final race, The Goodbye Consolation Plate, was held on 9 November 1963 and won by Lester Piggott, watched by over 20,000 spectators. The November Handicap was transferred to Doncaster and the Lancashire Oaks to Haydock Park. The Castle Irwell racecourse closed after the meeting on 9 November"
"a family that could trace its roots as jockeys and trainers back to the 18th century. The Piggotts were a Cheshire farming family who in the 1870s ran the Crown Inn in Nantwich for at least 40 years. Lester's grandfather Ernest (Ernie) Piggott (1878–1967) owned a racehorse stable at The Old Manor in Letcombe Regis and his father (Ernest) Keith Piggott (1904–1993) another at South Bank in Lambourn, where Lester lived until 1954. Ernie Piggott rode three Grand National winners, in 1912, 1918 and 1919 and was married to a sister of the jockeys Mornington Cannon and Kempton Cannon, who"
"which was always accompanied by subtitles. In 1991, during a period in which Queen Elizabeth II faced public pressure to pay taxes, the satirical magazine ""Private Eye"" showed a cover picture of her talking on a telephone, asking for Lester Piggott. ""Lester's"" public house in Margate is named after Piggott. Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (born 5 November 1935) is a retired English professional jockey. With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time and the originator of a much imitated style. Popularly known as"
"Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (born 5 November 1935) is a retired English professional jockey. With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time and the originator of a much imitated style. Popularly known as ""The Long Fellow"" he was known for his competitive personality, keeping himself thirty pounds under his natural weight, and on occasion not sparing the whip on horses such as Nijinsky. Piggott regarded Sir Ivor as the easiest to ride of the great winners. Lester Piggott was born in Wantage to"
"Lester Award A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races from 1954 to 1992. The awards were inaugurated in 1990, and they recognise the achievements of jockeys from both flat and jump racing during the previous year. The ceremony to present the 2012 awards took place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, on 28 March 2013. The event was sponsored by Stobart. The awards ceremony"
"Stud in Australia. Royal Academy (horse) Royal Academy (February 21, 1987 – 22 February 2012) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse bred in the United States best known as the winner of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Mile in which famed British jockey Lester Piggott came out of retirement to ride the colt to victory. Royal Academy also won the 1990 July Cup at Newmarket. He was a son of the great racehorse and sire Nijinsky whom he resembled in conformation and temperament. In 1991 Royal Academy was retired to stud at Coolmore Stud's American arm, Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. He"
"the final day of the Festival. The event was established in 1939, and it was originally held at Hurst Park in Surrey. During the early part of its history it was regularly contested by horses trained in France – six of the first seven winners were French-based. The flat racing jockey Lester Piggott achieved one of his twenty hurdle victories in this race in 1954. The Triumph Hurdle was transferred to Cheltenham in 1965, and for a period thereafter it was sponsored by the Daily Express. It was initially held during the venue's April meeting, but it became part of"
"used as an anti-aircraft station and as a depot. In 1949, the course was bought as freehold by the Birmingham Racecourse Company for £85,000. The course was redeveloped in 1958. The same year, the course hosted its most valuable event – a handicap with a first prize of approximately £2,500. In the 1960s, the Birmingham Corporation bought the land on which the racecourse stood for £1.25 million. The final meeting was held on 21 June 1965; Lester Piggott rode a double. The last race was the Farewell Maiden Plate, the losing horse (and thus the last horse to cross the"
"Royal Academy (horse) Royal Academy (February 21, 1987 – 22 February 2012) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse bred in the United States best known as the winner of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Mile in which famed British jockey Lester Piggott came out of retirement to ride the colt to victory. Royal Academy also won the 1990 July Cup at Newmarket. He was a son of the great racehorse and sire Nijinsky whom he resembled in conformation and temperament. In 1991 Royal Academy was retired to stud at Coolmore Stud's American arm, Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. He was later transferred"
"had traditionally been held the night before Good Friday, a day with no racing in Great Britain, but the start of Good Friday racing in 2014 led to the event being moved to a December date, with the 2014 ceremony honouring jockeys for their achievements in 2013 and 2014. Lester Award A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races from 1954 to 1992. The awards were"
"the colt was sent back to Ireland for the inaugural running of the Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes over ten furlongs at Leopardstown Racecourse. With Paquet serving a suspension, Lester Piggott took over the ride on Malacate, who started the 4/5 favourite against ten opponents, the most prominent in the betting being Northern Treasure, Hawkberry and Niebo, all of whom he had beaten at the Curragh. Ridden with great confidence by Piggott, he turned into the straight in sixth place, took the lead approaching the final furlong and on easily by one and a half lengths from Mart Lane, with Niebo"
"both rode winners of the Derby, in 1899 and 1904 respectively. He was also three-times British jump racing Champion Jockey (in 1910, 1913 and 1915). Keith Piggott was a successful National Hunt jockey and trainer, winning the Champion Hurdle as a jockey in 1939 and the Grand National as a trainer in 1963 with Ayala, becoming the British jump racing Champion Trainer of the 1962–63 season. Lester Piggott is the cousin, through his mother Lilian Iris Rickaby, of two other jockeys, Bill and Fred Rickaby. Fred Rickaby was British flat racing Champion Apprentice in 1931 and 1932. Piggott is married"
"1973 when he took up a new job as a racing manager for the Indian shipping magnate Ravi Tikkoo. He returned to his native Melbourne in 1977 but developed cancer, and died on 28 January 1979 in South Caulfield Melbourne. He is buried at the Cheltenham Memorial Park (Wangara Road). ""This entry has been based on personal recollections."" What greater compliment than to be declared by Lester Piggot (a winner of 5,000+ races himself) as ""The best big-race jockey in the world""? Bill Williamson was awarded that accolade after he defeated Piggot, the English maestro, for the second successive year"
"Ernest Piggott Ernest ""Ernie"" Piggott (1878–1967) born Nantwich, Cheshire, England was a leading British jump racing jockey, whose family has become one of the leading dynasties in British horseracing. He was three times Champion Jockey and three times Grand National winner. His son, (Ernest) Keith Piggott (1904–1993), was also a leading jump jockey and National-winning trainer, while his grandson is the 11-times British flat racing Champion Jockey, Lester Piggott. Piggott began his English riding career in the late 1890s but from 1905 was based for several years in Belgium and France. He was champion jockey in France before returning to"
"site was vacated (for a hefty price) in 1901 to allow an expansion to Manchester Docks. The land is now home to Dock 9 of the re-branded Salford Quays. Racing then moved back to Castle Irwell which later staged a Classic – the 1941 St. Leger – and was home to the Lancashire Oaks (nowadays run at Haydock Park) and the November Handicap, which was traditionally the last major race of the flat season. Through the late 50s and early 60s the track saw Scobie Breasley and Lester Piggott annually battle out the closing acts of the jockey's title until"
"fully recovered from a fire that destroyed the grandstand in 1937. The last race to be held there, in 1939, was won by Grasshopper, ridden by Keith Piggott, father of the famous Lester Piggott. ""History of Cardiff Racecourse"" by Brian Lee (Cwm Nedd Press) Ely Racecourse Ely Racecourse was a horse racing venue in Cardiff, Wales. The Racecourse opened in 1855, with the first race being held on 30 May. By 1864 racing at Ely was a regular event, the races that year were acclaimed as 'the most brilliant and successful ever held'. In 1895 the first Welsh Grand National"
"Salisbury Racecourse Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring thoroughbred horse racing, southwest of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Fifteen race meetings a year are held there between early May and mid-October. There has been racing at the race course located three miles from Salisbury since the mid-16th century. Many great horses have won at the track, including Gimcrack (1768), Eclipse (1769), Sun Chariot (1941), Mill Reef (1970) and Brigadier Gerard (1970). Sir Percy, winner of the 2006 Derby, and Look Here, winner of the 2008 Oaks, had both won at Salisbury the previous year. Jockey Lester Piggott"
"was not life threatening and that he was recovering in intensive care as a precaution. He attended Royal Ascot in June 2007 and the Epsom Derby in June 2008 where he tipped the winner, New Approach, during a BBC television interview. He was also present for Gold Cup day at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2009, where he was interviewed in the parade ring. The annual jockey awards The Lesters, inaugurated in 1990, are named in his honour. In 1999, the Racing Post ranked Piggott as second in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century, behind"
"his horses. It was costly for Piggott, as All Along won the Arc and a string of other international races in an autumn campaign that ended with her being named US Horse of the Year. Further, as Wildenstein was one of Cecil's principal owners, this placed a strain on the relationship, and in 1984 Cecil and Piggott split, with Steve Cauthen taking over at Warren Place. Piggott lives near Newmarket in Suffolk. Piggott retired as a jockey at the end of the 1985 flat season and became a trainer. His Eve Lodge stables housed 97 horses and sent out 34"
"to Susan Armstrong. They married at St. Mark's church, North Audley Street, London in 1960. Her father, Sam Armstrong, and her brother, Robert Armstrong, were both racehorse trainers. They have two daughters, Maureen, an ex-eventer (married to Derby-winning trainer William Haggas) and Tracy (a sports presenter on Irish television station RTÉ). He also has a son, Jamie, from a relationship with Anna Ludlow. His house is named after a famous racehorse from history – Florizel. Piggott began racing horses from his father's stable when he was 10 years old and won his first race in 1948, aged 12 years, on"
"a small race course outside Doncaster called Pigburn. This was because his local training ground became too hard for the horses to gallop during dry spells. In 1851 he constructed a ""tan gallop"" on Langton Wold, local to his Malton stables, where he could exercise his horses in dry weather conditions without the need to move them each year to Pigburn. Scott won his first St. Leger in 1822 with Theodore while training for Petre. This was the first of 16 St Leger wins, 9 Oaks wins, and 6 Epsom Derby wins. 6 of his St Leger wins were with"
"licence in 2008, in order to devote his time to his business of synthetic racetrack surfacing known as Tapeta Footings. Michael Dickinson (horseman) Michael W. Dickinson (born 3 February 1950 in Yorkshire, England) is a retired Champion Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Having been educated at Rossall School, Dickinson was an amateur champion rider before becoming a professional jockey for 10 years. His rides included a Classic winner, Boucher. Lester Piggot rode Boucher when it won the 1981 St Leger at Doncaster. Dickinson got his trainer's licence in 1980, taking over his parents' stables. He trained at Dunkeswick near Harewood in Yorkshire"
"William Haggas William Haggas is a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, based at Somerville Lodge stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. He is the son-in-law of the multiple champion jockey Lester Piggott. He was educated at Harrow and played cricket at Lord's for Harrow against Eton in 1977, 1978 and 1979, captaining the side in the 1979 match. He started his working life in his father's textile factory, but quit after three months and headed to Newmarket. Before taking out a licence in his own right, he learnt his trade with John Winter and Mark Prescott. He trained his first winner in 1987."
"Cup by a length from Crash Course. In 1977 he won his third consecutive Ascot Gold Cup, which at that time was a record. The achievement was surpassed by Yeats in 2009. The famous English champion jockey Lester Piggott rode Sagaro in all his major races. Sagaro retired to The National Stud in England in 1977 and died in 1986. Gerald Oldham said of him ""He was a marvellous racehorse and one of the greatest stayers. It was just as much of a thrill to have bred him as to have raced him. Champions like him don't come along often."""
"He trained his first winner for the Queen (Elizabeth II), when Purple Spectrum won a maiden race at Windsor on 12 May 2014. Other top-level horses he has trained include Chorist, Aqlaam and King’s Apostle. He has also trained winners of the German 2,000 Guineas, Topkapi Trophy and Hong Kong Derby. ""'Great Britain"" France Ireland Germany Italy William Haggas William Haggas is a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, based at Somerville Lodge stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. He is the son-in-law of the multiple champion jockey Lester Piggott. He was educated at Harrow and played cricket at Lord's for Harrow against Eton"
"was strongly fancied for the St Leger Stakes at Doncaster in September. He finished second of the fourteen runners, one and a half lengths behind the 28/1 outsider Julio Mariner. Le Moss began his four-year-old season by beating two opponents in the Lymm Stakes over two miles at Haydock Park in May. He was then sent Royal Ascot in June, where he was ridden by Lester Piggott in the Ascot Gold Cup over two and a half miles. He started at odds of 7/4 and won by seven lengths from his six-year-old stable companion Buckskin who started favourite. He then"
"he was transferred to England where he was trained at Newmarket, Suffolk by Cecil Boyd-Rochfort. By the end of the season he had won four races in Britain including the Ascot Stakes (by five lengths) and the Goodwood Cup. In 1957 Zarathustra sustained a fracture to his cannon bone which threatened his racing career. After spending two months recuperating in his stable he returned to the racecourse to run in the Ascot Gold Cup. The stable jockey, Harry Carr preferred to ride the Queen's runner Atlas, leaving Zarathustra to be ridden by Lester Piggott. After racing just behind the leaders,"
"2000 Guineas. His last win in Britain was in October 1994 and he officially retired in 1995; his last British ride was in the November Handicap on 5 November 1994, but he rode abroad through the winter of 1994/95, winning the Black Opal Stakes on Zadok in Canberra on 5 March 1995 before deciding not to return for the 1995 British Flat turf season. In 2004 he published the book ""Lester's Derbys"". On 15 May 2007 Pigott was admitted to intensive care in a Swiss hospital following a recurrence of a previous heart problem. His wife stated that this illness"
"jockey Lester Piggott put pressure on Ivan Allan to give him the mount, and the owner eventually gave in. Commanche Run won the British Classic. McHargue soon returned home to Pasadena, California. McHargue retired from riding in early April 1988 and began a new career a few weeks later as a racing official. In 1994, he graduated from the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP). He worked at northern California tracks and in 2005 was appointed a race steward at Hollywood Park. McHargue is married to Robin McHargue, daughter of the late trainer Robert Winfield. Darrel McHargue Darrel G. McHargue (born"
"third favourite for the Lingfield Derby Trial in May. He took the lead five furlongs from the finish and stayed on well to win by three lengths from Shearwalk. When Lester Piggott, who had won the race eight times previously, elected to ride Teenoso in the Derby, the colt was strongly supported in the betting and started 9/2 favourite in a field of twenty-one runners. Racing on the heaviest ground seen at Epsom for many years, Teenoso was among the leaders from the start. Piggott sent the colt into the lead early in the straight and he was never in"
"Minstrel raced against older horses for the first time in Britain's most prestigious all-aged race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over one and a half miles at Ascot. The race attracted a strong international field including Bruni, Exceller, Crystal Palace (Prix du Jockey Club) and Crow (St Leger). Piggott settled the colt in the middle of the field before moving up on the outside in the straight to challenge for the lead. He caught the British-trained five-year-old Orange Bay inside the final furlong and held on by a short head in a photo finish as Orange Bay"
"yard. Three NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) events were held at the track. The 1957 event was held on the track. It was won by Eddie Pagan. The second NASCAR event was a 500 lap event on the track, and it was won by Parnelli Jones. The final event was held in 1961 on the track. Eddie Gray lapped the field for the win. Ascot Park (speedway) Ascot Park, originally Los Angeles Speedway, was a dirt racetrack located near Gardena, California. The Ascot Park track opened in 1957, as Los Angeles Speedway, on the site of a former city"
"to Newmarket in England to contest the seven furlong Dewhurst Stakes, the most important race for two-year-olds run in the United Kingdom. Ridden by Lester Piggott, he started the 15/8 favourite against a field which included Henbit, Romeo Romani (Norfolk Stakes), Marathon Gold (Lanson Champagne Stakes), Final Straw (Champagne Stakes) and Tyrnavos. Monteverdi was restrained by Piggott in the early stages before accelerating past Henbit and Tyrnavos to take the lead two furlongs from the finish. Having taken the lead, Monteverdi veered sharply to the left, and Piggott resorted to striking the horse on the head with his whip before"