The racing considerable,who will be guest of honour at Ascot on Saturday, looks back on the highs and lows of his remarkable career and gives his opinion of the horses of todayLester Piggott, and a dapper yet gaunt man,ghosts across the cold marble floor of a hotel in Mayfair with a vaguely haunted expression. The prospect of another interview, after a lifetime of such encounters, or does not fill the considerable old jockey with glee. He has heard every question before and,as an infamously reluctant communicator, he has dodged most since his first winner in 1948. A Piggott interview is meant to be a challenge like no other.
Having spent the past few days consumed by grainy yet riveting footage of Piggott riding magnificent horses like Nijinsky and Sir Ivor, and watching him point to a brutal need to win while driving on Roberto and The Minstrel to victory in the Derby in the 1970s,I launch into an earnest waffle of a greeting.
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Source: theguardian.com