R OYAL AS COT HIGHLIGHTS TOTAL ROYAL ASCOT WINNERS 116 FIRST ROYAL ASCOT WINNER MALKA’S BOY IN THE 1952 WOKINGHAM STAKES LAST ROYAL ASCOT WINNER COLLEGE CHAPEL IN THE 1993 CORK AND ORRERY STAKES GOLD CUP WINS 11 INCLUDING THREE ON SAGARO IN 1975, 1976 AND 1977 EIGHT WINNERS IN A SINGLE ROYAL ASCOT TWICE IN 1965 AND 1975
IN MEMORY OF
LESTER PIGGOTT
I
n Ascot’s three-hundred-plus-year history no jockey has dominated the Royal Meeting like Lester Piggott.
His tally of 116 Royal Ascot winners stands alone in the modern era, a total that is unlikely to be surpassed and one that came at a time when the meeting was just four days long. Piggott’s first Royal Ascot victory came in 1952 on Malka’s Boy for trainer Walter Nightingall in the Wokingham Stakes. ‘The Long Fellow’ went on to be associated with some of the greatest horses to have graced Royal Ascot.
Stakes (formerly the Cork and Orrery Stakes). His seven winners in the King’s Stand Stakes included three for Vincent O’Brien in the 1970s as well as one of the leading post-War sprinters, Right Boy, in 1957 who he subsequently partnered to victory in the 1958 and 1959 Cork and Orrery Stakes. Of those 116 winners, he rode 18 apiece for trainers Noel Murless and Vincent O’Brien. Twice he rode eight winners at a single meeting, in 1965 and 1975.
He won the Gold Cup a record 11 times, including a then-record three-times on Sagaro in 1975, 1976 and 1977, one on board Le Moss and a brace with Ardross in 1981 and 1982.
Success at Royal Ascot wasn’t limited to the saddle either as when he briefly turned his hand to training in the mid1980s he sent out Cutting Blade to win the Coventry Stakes in 1986.
In modern history, he also remains the most successful jockey in the King’s Stand Stakes, Royal Hunt Cup, Norfolk Stakes, Coronation Stakes and Platinum Jubilee
After famously returning to the saddle, his final winner at the Royal Meeting was College Chapel in the 1993 Cork and Orrery Stakes, at the age of 57.
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Piggott went on to enjoy success as a breeder being the joint ownerbreeder of Superstar Leo who won the Norfolk Stakes in 2000. He also part-owned Mont Etoile, trained by his son-in-law William Haggas, who won the Ribblesdale Stakes in 2006. He is therefore the only known person to have ridden, trained, owned and bred a winner at Royal Ascot. A statue of Lester Piggott sculptured by William Newton was unveiled at Ascot Racecourse in 2019 and stands on the Brigadier Gerard Lawn. Speaking during the unveiling, Piggott said, “I have enjoyed some great days at Royal Ascot. Everybody looked forward to this meeting. To win the Gold Cup once is special and I was very lucky to win the race on 11 occasions. “I rode some brilliant horses in the race including Sagaro, but probably the best was a filly called Gladness. It has been a very lucky course for me.”
