There was a time when Lester Piggott was as famous in this country as George Best, Pele and Muhammad Ali.
He was reverentially namechecked in songs by Van Morrisson and Chas ‘n’ Dave and soaps like The Archers, was mentioned in a PG Wodehouse story, granted his own Spitting Image puppet and after he was jailed for tax evasion and stripped of his OBE became the butt of a thousand savage jokes.
But it was his extraordinary ability to win horse races on the Flat, and his distinctive style of riding with his bottom in the air, that the shy and complex genius will be remembered for. Because the nine times Derby winner and 11 times Champion Jockey was viewed by many in the know as the greatest jockey of all time.
