Legends of the Turf- Lester Piggot

Pinched from Jimmy`s and Aidens facebook page

Dennis Bosch told me its

Fred Rickaby. with lester Piggot

My hero

Yes - Fred is on the right - note the hearing aid - Fred was hard of hearing due to being a fighter pilot in WW2 - Lester a speech impediment - lol can you imagine them together in the parade ring with Rick trying to give Lester last minute riding instructions - not that he ever needed them!!! Wow - could Rickaby turn out a horse - from the most mediocre maiden to the best in his stable - when they walked into the parade ring it was goose bump time - plaited manes, patterns on their rumps etc., etc. no one could or will ever be able to match him in that department. Boy o Boy and attention to detail at his stables - every horse very carefully checked by him personally before bedtime and if O.K. he would say jolly good and go on to the next horse - so the grooms nicknamed him Jollygood!!!!

Wow - watching the replays of some of Lester's classic winners on Winning Ways last Monday was something else and really brought back good memories - how he got some of those home only he knows - best jock ever by a mile...

I became a personal friend of Fred Rickaby when he was still training and when he retired he became Mike Airey's assitant and brought to mike horses like Swan Prince,Charles Fortune,Royal Sensation and his own horse called Gulf World by Savanarola a locally bred stallion and he told me our top division horses we on a par with the best in Europe and thats why would buy cheap horses that were locally bred.I visited him on a yearly basis when he went back to England after hisbwife Molly Reinhardt died after falling down the stairs at the National yearling Sales. He lived in Newmarket and always gave me a packet of Newmarket pork sausages.We often went to Lester Piggots stables
to see lLester but to be honest he was a bad bad trainer.The one day we were there on a friday and he had runners in France on the Sunday and he said two of them could not lose,we couldnt wait to to get on and they both are still running.When you arrived at his stable he would open a bottle of Champagne and toast life.Fred died about 4 years ago and Mike Airey passed away in his sleep on the afternoon of the Met in January this year.They both had great years and were very honest and trustworthy trainers and will be sadly missed

I had hair then plus it was black

scotia Wrote:

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> I had hair then plus it was black


When was this

scotia Wrote:

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> I had hair then plus it was black


Where you in the BEE GEES?

In my prime used to look like Barry
" and I aint but nothing to be guilty of "

I must have been pissed last night even I can't understand what I said
Must have been early 70s

Mike Airey was a great guy - fondly remembered - we went to the same school - Umtata High.