In my younger childhood - Johny Gavin. In my later childhood - Roy McCrohan. In my teens - Kevin Keelan. My lifetime Sporting Hero - Lester Piggott.
I don't go back as far as many on here, so it has to be Drury for me. I always liked the way he just got on with things with zero fuss. I spent half my childhood trying to be a left back.
Lester Piggott A serial TAX evader who inflicted cruelty on horses with excess use of his whip! Fair enough
Anyone who has eaten a Tesco ready meal or Findus lasagne recently has probably had a brush with those same horses Warkie
It's also a well known fact that the first black man to ride a Derby winner was Lester Piggot's cell-mate!
A bit unfair Warkie. He pleaded guilty and took his punishment unlike others at the time. I quote from George Carmens book - ' I tried to persuade him to plead not guilty as I stood more chance of getting him off the charges than I did with Ken Dodd. His attitude was that he had avoided tax by his actions and therefore had to plead guilty'. What he actually did would today be described as dubious accounting practices by not declaring full details of share options which, if discovered, would be punished, at the most, by reclamation of the tax avoided. Although not as stringent as today there were rules in place on excessive use of the whip and a Jockey would be stood down if a horse was marked. Lester was never stood down for that offence. Racehorses are very valuable and mollycoddled animals. They do not respond to a flogging. If it happens to a horse he becomes frightened of a racecourse and never runs properly again. What owner wants that to happen? Most horses respond to a couple of taps but after that swish their tails and then slow down. Lester had an incredible knack of knowing when to administer use of the whip. If you don't believe me watch a replay of him winning the Derby on The Minstrel. The greatest tribute to the mans greatness came at the end of his career. Lester had retired and the greatest trainer of all time, Vincent O'Brien, had a horse with incredible talent but terrible attitude. All the best Jockeys tried and failed and the owners were told that the only way it would win the Breeders Cup was if he could persuade Lester to come out of retirement and ride him. He came out of retirement and won. The Defence rests it's case m'lud.
..........talking of great left backs, we've had Greg Downs in our Showroom this afternoon, we're currently doing a deal on a new bathroom for him. Very nice chap, when I said to him that he'd missed out on the money when he played, his wife chipped in with "Yes, and I missed out on being a WAG !"
Fair play 1950 we all have our heros! I had a mate who was a stable hand in Newmarket and he used to tell me stuff about what Lester used to get up to that would make your toes curl.
Greg was a great L/B with a superb dig on his left peg. Third best L/B we've had in my opinion behind Bowen and Drury.
I bet he could - the tales of his meanness were legendary. In fact I suspect that he reckoned a few months free bed and board were a better bargain than paying George Carmans's fees!! Still doesn't detract from his sporting brilliance and achievements though. Amazingly the only other sporting hero of my adulthood is Tiger Woods - I sure know how to pick um!!!
Many years ago his parents ran the Southwell Arms at the top of Hall Road - now long gone. The sights you got when his Mum fetched a bottle of Guinness off the bottom shelf was a joy to behold. Blokes who hated Guinness grunk gallons of the stuff in the Southwell!!!
