Month: May 2022

Coolmore boss John Magnier leads tributes to “the greatest” 

Coolmore boss John Magnier has led the tributes to one of the sport's biggest icons, the legendary nine-time Derby-winning jockey Lester Piggott, who he labelled as “the greatest” following his death at the age of 86.
Piggott rode his first Derby victory for former Ballydoyle boss, the late Vincent O'Brien, in 1968 aboard Sir Ivor.
They combined to win the race four times together, including with Nijinsky (Can) in 1970, Roberto in 1972 and The Minstrel (Can), for whom the colt's owner Robert Sangster, Piggott was then contracted to ride for, in 1972.

“He really was the greatest. His family are in our thoughts today,” John Magnier.

The Minstrel went on to win the Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond S. in that same season.
Recalling Piggott's rare gift, Magnier told TDN Europe, “Obviously, a sad day and so many stories and great memories for Sue and I.
“I remember meeting Lester in the parade ring before the 1971 Haydock Sprint Cup. A group of us had bought into Green God (GB) a couple of days before and Lester was up for what was to be the horse's final race. 'Don't be looking for me at the furlong pole, I won't be there until the line,' he told me, and sure enough he produced him with his trademark impeccable timing.”
Magnier added, “At this time of year MV was regularly frustrated by Lester playing musical chairs of what he would be riding in the Derby. But he said, 'you have to put up with him, otherwise you give the opposition a 7lbs advantage!' He really was the greatest. His family are in our thoughts today.”
Willie Carson and Piggott held sway on the track in the 1970s and 80s when both jockeys were in their pomp and five-times champion Carson said he felt like a part of him had died with the most iconic racing figure of the 20th century.
Carson, along with Frankie Dettori, who described Piggott as his “hero”, paid heartfelt tributes to the legendary rider on Sunday morning.
“I feel as though I have lost part of my life in way, as Lester has been part of my life ever since I came into racing,” said an emotional Carson.
“I came to his in-laws as an apprentice and he was part of my life right from the word go, until the end. He was an iconic figure in the horse racing world. He is a legend.
“We had the luck of some ding-dongs on the track and he was a person who made us all better-because we had to be better to beat him. We had to up our game to compete with him, because he was so magical on top of a horse. It is so sad. Part of my life has gone – that is how I feel.”
Dual Derby-winning jockey Frankie Dettori, who will be aboard Donnacha O'Brien's Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) at Epsom on Saturday, echoed Carson's thoughts on Piggott.
Dettori said, “Lester was a hero of mine and a good friend. The impact he has made in racing, on all of us, is second to none.”
He added, “I will always try to remember him for the good things and I offer my sincere condolences to his family and his many friends. He was a legend. We always tried to aspire to be like him and none of us can do it.”
Sir Michael Stoute was also among the leading industry figures to pay tribute to Piggott. Stoute shared how he felt Piggott was instrumental in getting his training career off the ground.
Piggott rode an English and Irish Classic winner for the Newmarket trainer, who will be represented the likely favourite Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in Saturday's Cazoo Derby at Epsom.
“It is sad news,” said Stoute. “He rode my first winner on the Rowley Mile on a horse called Sandal, who was owned by my father, in 1972.
“He won the Irish Derby on Shergar (GB) (1981) and he won the 2000 Guineas on Shadeed (1985), as Walter (Swinburn) was suspended for both of those. He was super-sub and he was not a bad sub! Lester was a genius on a racehorse. I don't think there has been anyone better.”
Piggott's 4,493 winners-over 5,000 worldwide-is the third-highest tally in British racing history behind only Sir Gordon Richards and Pat Eddery.
Stoute added, “Lester could be very entertaining when he was in the mood – he had a great sense of humour. But he was tough to talk to at times.
“In 1980, actually, he had the pick of plenty of mine, with the hope of carrying that on, but he had fallen out with a few people by that stage.
“He is an icon, a brilliant jockey. Many have tried to be like him and no one has come close.”

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Prix d’Ispahan Glory For Lope De Vega’s Dreamloper

Pitched in against the colts in a winnable renewal of the G1 Prix d'Ispahan at ParisLongchamp on Sunday, Dreamloper (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}–Livia's Dream {Ire}, by Teofilo {Ire}) put them to the sword to reward Ed Walker's enterprise. Putting it all together with a career-best success in Newmarket's G2 Dahlia S. at the start of the month, the 5-1 shot was kept close to the leader Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) by Kieran Shoemark before brushing last year's Champion S. hero aside in early straight. Staying on powerfully as the closers struggled to make inroads, she hit the line with two lengths to spare over the outsider Wally (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) as Pretty Tiger (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) edged third, a further neck behind. “Kieran said she's improved so much, but I don't know where it's come from,” Walker commented. “She's taken a lot of figuring out, but is mentally easier on herself these days. A performance like that would give her a chance against most.”

Dreamloper first demonstrated her latent class when handing a 4 1/2-length beating to Lights On (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G3 Valiant S. over a mile at Ascot in July, but dropping back to seven was the wrong way to go on her next start when fourth in Newbury's G2 Hungerford S. Disappointing when 10th in the G1 Matron S. at Leopardstown in September, the bay bounced back to be third in the G1 Sun Chariot S. at Newmarket in October but all evidence so far points to her having upped her game again in 2022. “Ever since the end of last year when she finished third in the Sun Chariot she's done nothing but progress,” her trainer added. “There is the Rothschild and the Romanet, but the Nassau is the perfect fit.”

Shoemark echoed that feeling. “I was so lucky to gain my first group one win on Lady Bowthorpe and I think this filly is a similar type who would love it in the Nassau,” he said. “She had won the race two and a half out. She was very impressive–when I asked her to quicken she was instantly responsive.”

Dreamloper's dam Livia's Dream (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who was successful in the 12-furlong Listed Wild Flower S., is out of the Listed Dick Hern Fillies' S. winner Brindisi (GB) (Dr. Fong) whose listed-placed half-sister La Spezia (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) produced the G2 Doncaster Cup hero Thomas Hobson (GB) (Halling). This is the family of the G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), whose daughter Ambition (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) captured the G2 Prix Corrida. Livia's Dream also has the unraced 2-year-old filly Dreamrocker (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and a yearling filly by Golden Horn (GB).

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX D'ISPAHAN-G1, €250,000, ParisLongchamp, 5-29, 4yo/up, 9 1/4fT, 1:53.74, g/s.
1–DREAMLOPER (IRE), 125, m, 5, by Lope de Vega (Ire)
1st Dam: Livia's Dream (Ire) (SW-Eng), by Teofilo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Brindisi (GB), by Dr Fong
3rd Dam: Genoa (GB), by Zafonic
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Jason Fill; B-Mrs Olivia Hoare (IRE); T-Ed Walker; J-Kieran Shoemark. €142,850. Lifetime Record: MGSW & G1SP-Eng, 14-5-1-3, €353,528. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Wally (Ire), 128, g, 5, Siyouni (Fr)–Full of Beauty (GB), by Motivator (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (€130,000 Ylg '18 ARAUG). O-Ecurie Jean-Pierre Barjon; B-Ecurie Haras du Cadran, SAS I.E.I., Carlos Lerner & Yann Lerner (IRE); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €57,150.
3–Pretty Tiger (Ire), 128, c, 4, Sea the Moon (Ger)–Fast and Pretty (Ire), by Zamindar. (€105,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG). O-Bernard Giraudon; B-Chevotel de la Hauquerie (IRE); T-Pia & Joakim Brandt. €28,575.
Margins: 2, NK, SHD. Odds: 5.20, 12.00, 1.80.
Also Ran: Dilawar (Ire), Sealiway (Fr), Dawn Intello (Fr). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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‘He Was A Legend’: British Champion Jockey Lester Piggott, 86, Passes

Lester Piggott, who won a record 30 British Classics between 1954 and 1992 and was 11-time riding champion in his native England, died on Sunday, May 29. The 86-year-old had been hospitalized since last week in Switzerland, where he resided, according to his son-in-law, trainer William Haggas.

“He cast the longest shadow anyone's ever cast over racing,” veteran racing journalist Brough Scott said in an interview with Nick Luck. “For me, he was my first and greatest hero.”

“He was a person who made us all better – because we had to be better to beat him,” Willie Carson told the BBC. A longtime rival of Piggott and five-time British champion jockey who won 17 Classics, Carson said, “It is so sad. Part of my life is gone.”

“He was a legend,” champion jockey Frankie Dettori told BBC. “We always tried to aspire to be like him and none of us can do it. He will never be forgotten.”

Born into a multi-generational racing family on Nov. 5, 1935, in Wantage, Berkshire, Piggott, the son of  trainer Keith Piggott, launched his riding career as a 10-year-old, winning his first race aboard The Chase at Haydock Park at the age of 12.

A sensation in his teenage years, Piggott won the first of his record nine Epsom Derbies at age 18 in 1954 with 33-1 longshot Never Say Die. He would go on to win his second Derby with Crepello in 1957, followed by St Paddy in 1960, Sir Ivor in 1968, Nijinsky II in 1970, Roberto in 1972, Empery in 1976, The Minstrel in 1977 and Teenoso in 1983.

Nicknamed “The Long Fellow” because of his lanky, five-foot, eight-inch frame, Piggott would go on to win a total of 4,493 races on the flat and 20 wins over hurdles, according to the Racing Post. A record 116 of those victories came during the Royal Ascot meeting.

He was the last jockey to win England's Triple Crown, riding Nijinsky II to victories in the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and St. Leger Stakes in 1970. Piggott won the latter 1 3/4-mile race on eight occasions, the final time with his last English Classic winner, Commanche Run, in 1984.

How he acquired the mount on Commanche Run was an example of  Piggott's all-out drive to win, a personality trait some called ruthless. American Darrel McHargue had been Commanche Run's regular rider after moving to England, where he was contract rider for trainer Luca Cumani. When McHargue was unable to ride the colt in a St. Leger prep, Piggott was called on to handle him. He won that race, but McHargue was back in the saddle for Commanche Run's final St. Leger prep, the March Stakes.

As the St. Leger approached, Piggott began calling Commanche Run's owner, Ivan Allan, lobbying to ride him in the St. Leger because a victory would give the jockey his record 28th British Classic triumph.

In a British documentary on Piggott, Allan recalled a conversation he had with the rider. “I remember him telling me, 'McHargue couldn't ride a bicycle,' and if I wanted to win the St. Leger I'd better put him up on the horse,” the owner said. He was convinced to give Piggott the mount. McHargue, a future Hall of Famer in the U.S., left England shortly thereafter.

In that same documentary, Robert Sangster – who owned many of the top horses Piggott rode to victory during a successful association with legendary Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien at Ballydoyle – spoke of Piggott's often difficult personality. “Lester had a complete disregard for any authority or any boundaries: his home life or the revenue (tax authority), the stewards or riding,” said Sangster. “He rode to win, and that was the essential quality that we loved.”

That disregard for authority led to Piggott spending a year in jail in England after a 1987 conviction for income tax evasion. He had retired from riding in 1985 and was training horses  in Newmarket when his conviction and original three-year jail sentence was front-page news. Piggott, whose net worth was in the tens of millions of dollars at the time of his conviction, was found to have omitted significant income from his tax returns and used false names to funnel money into secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Singapore, the Bahamas and Cayman Islands.

He also was stripped of his Order of the British Empire because of his conviction, but rode for Queen Elizabeth after returning to the saddle and was honored in 2019 with a bronze statue that she unveiled during a special ceremony.

Piggott was the center of other controversies throughout his career, involving rough riding and overuse of the whip. It was all part of his desire to win.

In 1990, Piggott returned to the saddle and only 12 days into his comeback at the age of 54 provided one of the most memorable performances of his career, taking the Vincent O'Brien-trained Royal Academy from last to first in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park.

Piggott is survived by his wife, Susan; daughters Maureen and Tracy and a son, Jamie.

Tributes for Lester Piggott poured in throughout the racing world.

The post ‘He Was A Legend’: British Champion Jockey Lester Piggott, 86, Passes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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American Pharoah’s Above the Curve Best In The Saint-Alary

Second best in the May 4 Listed Cheshire Oaks, TDN Rising Star Above the Curve (American Pharoah) made sure she was front and centre where it mattered in Sunday's G1 St Mark's Basilica Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp. Sent up to track the steady pace by Ryan Moore in a close second, the 7-5 favourite was committed with 300 metres remaining and stayed on to deny Place du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) by a length, with Queen Trezy (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) the same margin away in third. “They went steady and that was against her–it turned into a sprint, she's still babyish and is still learning and there is plenty to come,” Moore said of the Joseph O'Brien-trained winner.

Above the Curve, who had earned TDN Rising Star status at the expense of Thoughts of June (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a maiden over this trip at Leopardstown Apr. 6 before losing out to that rival on easier ground tackling an extended 11 furlongs at Chester, could be heading back to Ireland for next start according to Hermine Bastide, representing Coolmore. “She has entries in all the big fillies' races including the Prix de Royallieu and the Prix de Diane, but her next race is likely to be the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh,” he said. “She is a lovely filly and Joseph is delighted with the performance. Maybe she will be bred to St Mark's Basilica in the future. She is lightly-raced and there is probably more room for improvement, she has a lovely temperament and ticks all the boxes.”

Trainer Yann Lerner said of Queen Trezy, “She is so cold it's unbelievable. We fitted her with sheepskins to motivate her, but still she was caught for speed and doing the bare minimum. On the other hand, it is sometimes an advantage for a horse to be so relaxed and it helps on big occasions when you have to deal with the pressure. There is no doubt that a mile and a half will be her game, but I think we will try the Prix de Diane first.”

Above the Curve's dam is an unraced daughter of the revered Mariah's Storm (Rahy), which makes her a half-sibling to Giant's Causeway. Already responsible for the G3 Irish 1000 Guineas Trial and G3 Weld Park S. third Thinking of You, Fabulous is a half to the “Iron Horse's” G2 Cherry Hinton S.-winning sister You'resothrilling which links her to the Galileo clan of Gleneagles (Ire), Happily (Ire), Joan of Arc (Ire) and Marvellous (Ire). Also connected to that sire's G1 Irish Champion S.-winning sire Decorated Knight (GB), she has been bred to Justify for the past three seasons, with 2-year-old and yearling fillies followed by a colt foal.

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
ST MARK'S BASILICA COOLMORE PRIX SAINT-ALARY-G1, €250,000, ParisLongchamp, 5-29, 3yo, f, 10fT, 2:06.25, g/s.
1–ABOVE THE CURVE, 126, f, 3, by American Pharoah
1st Dam: Fabulous (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Mariah's Storm, by Rahy
3rd Dam: Immense, by Roberto
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Westerberg; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Joseph O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €142,850. Lifetime Record: SP-Eng, 4-2-1-1, €180,600. *Full to Thinking of You, MGSP-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Place du Carrousel (Ire), 126, f, 3, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Traffic Jam (Ire), by Duke of Marmalade (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (€260,000 Ylg '20 ARQSEP). O-Al Shaqab Racing & Ballylinch Stud; B-Ballylinch Stud, Alexis Adamian & Mme Fan Adamian (IRE); T-Andre Fabre. €57,150.
3–Queen Trezy (Fr), 126, f, 3, Almanzor (Fr)–Elodie (GB), by Dansili (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (€125,000 Ylg '20 ARQSEP). O-Eric Feurtet, Mme Marion le Menestrel & Haras d'Etreham; B-Eric de Chambure & Riviera Equine SARL (FR); T-Carlos & Yann Lerner. €28,575.
Margins: 1, 1, NK. Odds: 1.40, 2.40, 4.80.
Also Ran: Sippinsoda (Fr), Wild Beauty (GB), Blue Wings (Fr). Scratched: Prosperous Voyage (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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