Lester Piggott Royal Academy Breeders' Cup Mile 1990

[geckos2001]

Agreed; Lester winning anything was never an upset. And RIP Royal Academy - thanks for the memory. The last survivor of VO'B's great horses?

[Pakistan1135]

Rip Royal Academy.

[wolfsmother14]

Rest in peace, Royal Academy.

[duvalditty73]

RIP Royal Academy

[ilikewavingatbuses]

it was no upset, he was the greatest and there will never be another like him, the greatest, forever!

[JUVEXX11]

lester,the goat.

[tigerarmyrule]

@JUVEXX11 agreed. That Lester is the GOAT is not an opinion. It is a simple fact. When I was growing up the question before a big race was always the same...."what's Lester on?". Watch him win the Derby on Roberto and The Minstrel....following Peter O'Sullivan I always refer to piggott as the Incomparable maestro.

[JUVEXX11]

@tigerarmyrule 

[ianzanshin]

Brough Scott said after the race 'Its his simple genius'

When they came off the final turn & went to the outside you just KNEW he was gonna get up!!

[arkle73]

One of those moments that a screenwriter would reject as too far fetched . The " living legend " quote was never more appropriate .

[malcs0]

It still makes me cry a little. I remember seeing it on Channel 4 on the night. I am a huge fan of Lester and regard him as the greatest flat jockey ever. There are those who reckon Lester deliberately eased Royal Academy out of the stalls so as to avoid being up with the early pace and so getting the horse mucked about. Lester rode his sire, Nijinsky, and said he reminded him of his "dad". That says so much about Lester, he used his brain as much as his brawn.

[ComteLafon]

@malcs0 I couldn't agree more. It's one of the great moments of sport. Sometimes we only know how great someone is when they're on the way down, or on their way back. He paid for his daft mistakes - a higher price than quite a few others, may I say - and did it with resigned dignity, which is why he was welcomed back so warmly. I think I'm right in saying he also did good work for prisoners' charities, so if Her Maj wants to do something really deserved, he should get that knighthood back.

[tigerarmyrule]

The incomparable maestro riding for the Greatest trainer.

[XSanQuentinX]

Billiant !!!...The Late Great Vincent O'Brien Persuading Lester, just out of Prison after 2yrs, to Come out of Retirement , and Lie on His Visa to Ride Royal Academy for him in the States...Because Lester was the Only Jockey who could handle the Horse.....Never Forget that Race....Brilliant Pair Vincent O'Brien/Lester Piggot..... Great Race, Great Memory....R.I.P. Vincent O'Brien...The Greatest Trainer of them ALL....!!! :-)