RACING LEGENDS
Listed below are a number of jockeys that have been the leaders of their profession over the years.
LESTER PIGGOTT Born 5th November 1935
SIR GORDON RICHARDS Born 5th May 1904 Died 10th November 1986
Gordon was the first English jockey to ride 4, 000 winners and was British Flat Racing champion in 26 of his 34 seasons.
He rode his first winner when aged 17 and progressed well till he contacted tuberculosis at aged 22, but bounced back later.
His career total of 4,870 winners is still a British record but for many years the Epsom Derby eluded him. However in 1953, he rode PINZA to victory to set the record straight.
Gordon was the first and only flat racing jockey to be knighted. ( in 1953 ).
His riding career finished in 1954 following a pelvis injury but he became a trainer, before retiring in 1970.
Lester won his first race when only aged 12 at Haydock Park and won his first Derby at aged 18. ( NEVER SAY DIE ).
He had 4,493 career wins including nine EPSOM DERBY victories plus 21 other British Classic wins plus many others abroad.
He was British Flat Racing champion jockey 11 times.
He retired from riding in 1985 to become a trainer and was doing well until he was convicted of tax fraud and jailed.
On his return, he gave up training to resume his riding career in 1990 and carried on for another five years.
He rode his last winner at the age of 59 in 1994.
PAT EDDERY Born 18th March 1952 Dies 10th November 2015
STEVE CAUTHEN Born 1st MAY 1960
American born Steve Cauthen became the youngest jockey to win the U.S. Triple Crown at age 18. After riding in America for a few years he began racing in Europe, mostly in England.
In all he had 2,794 career wins in England and was British Champion Flat Race Jockey three times. These included ten English classic races including two Derby wins with SLIP ANCHOR ( 1985) and REFERENCE POINT ( 1987 ).
He is the only jockey to have won both the KENTUCKY DERBY and the EPSOM DERBY.
After finishing his riding career he returned to Kentucky and bought a stud farm.
Pat began as an apprentice in his native Ireland and moved to England in 1967.
His first British Flat Racing championship came in 1974 when he was only 22, the youngest ever to win the award, a record that still stands.
Throughout his career, he won 11 British championships, a total which he surely would have improved upon , had he not returned to Ireland to ride for Vincent O'Brien in 1980.
From the mid- 1980's, Arab owners began to dominate racing and he then joined Juddmonte Stables to ride mainly for them. From 1994, he rode freelance, till his retirement in 2003.
In all he rode 4,632 winners in British flat races, a figure only exceeded by Sir Gordon Richards. His victories included, three Derby's and three Oaks, in all ,14 Classic wins.
Despite his earlier statements about not going into training, he set up a yard of 40 horses in 2005 and carried on till 2015, when he died of a heart attack brought on by a chronic alcohol problem.
Sir Gordon Richards Lester Piggott Steve Cauthen Pat Eddery
SIR ANTHONY McCOY ( AP ) Born 4th May 1974
AP is a former jumps jockey from Northern Ireland, who was based in Ireland and England and rode 4,358 winners and was champion jumps jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year that he was a professional.
He rode his first winner in 1992 at the age of 17 and completed his 4,000 Towcester in 2013.
AP won almost every big race there is and was named Sports Personality of the year in 2010, the first jockey to win the award and he was knighted in 2016.
He beat the most number of winners in a season several times over the years and achieved a new high in 2002 with 289.
He won the Grand National at the 15th attempt in 2010 with DONT PUSH IT.
With AP , the "Sports Personality" handle did have some meaning as he always had time to sign autographs and chat to punters and went out of the way to ride at all the small tracks in the country albeit hundreds of miles away from home.
He retired in 2015 and works as a racing pundit for ITV as well as having other writing credits.
PETER SCUDAMORE Born 29th June 1958
Peter's first competitive ride in 1978 was the start of a 15 year career which would see him break many jumps records. Being stable jockey to Martin Pipe certainly helped his career.
He recorded 1,678 winners, 13 of which were at the Cheltenham Festival.
He retired in 1993 and became assitant trainer to Nigel Twiston-Davies. He now lives with and is assistant trainer to Lucinda Russell at Milnathort.
Peter is also involved with his son Michael's yard in Herefordshire and his also has another son Tom , who is a professional jockey.
Walter was the only son of Wally Swinburn, who was a very successful jockey in Ireland.
He gained considerable fame for riding superstar SHERGAR to a 10 length victory in the 1981 DERBY, when only 19, and went on to win two more Derbys.
He won most of the British Classics and many top races in France and the U.S., and always seemed more at ease than anyone else in the really big races.
He retired from racing in 2004 and set up a training yard at Tring , Hertfordshire where he had considerable success with 270 winners before giving up his license in 2011.
Swinburn died in 2016, when at the age of 55, he fell from a bathroom window of his London flat onto a courtyard. The death was ruled as an accident by the coroner.
WALTER SWINBURN Born 7th August 1961 Died 12th December 2016
WILLIE CARSON Born 16th November 1942
Willie was British Flat Racing Champion jockey five times , won 17 Classic races and passed the 100 winners in a season mark in 23 seasons for a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain.
He had a long association with trainer Dick Hern for whom he rode three Derby winners.
Being only five feet tall, made it easier for him to maintain his weight to under eight stone which made him much in demand as a jockey up to his retirement in 1996 at the age of 54.
Willie has also undertaken a lot of T.V work including doing a co-presenter's job for BBC Racing until their coverage ended in 2012.
He has also spent many years building up a horse breeding business near Cirencester.
A. P. McCoy Peter Scudamore Walter Swinburn Willie Carson