LESTER began riding for Vincent in 1964. Vincent was very keen to have him – he said Lester was worth 7lb. Lester also knew more about the other horses in a race than their own trainers and jockeys knew. He was a great judge of form and that was a big advantage.

In those days Lester did not visit Ballydoyle too often. He would come over in the spring for a few days and ride work on the Guineas horses. Lester always wanted to find out how good the horses were and that didn’t suit Vincent at all. There’s a famous scene in a documentary about Lester where Vincent confronts Lester on the gallops saying “That was a right mess-up. What a balls of a piece of work.”

But they had a great respect for each other. They got on well.

When Lester was over he stayed at the Cashel Palace. One St Patrick’s weekend he asked me to drive him to the Phoenix Park for the opening meeting of the season, so he could study the form on the way.

We were a bit late so we had to drive fast through some of the towns. Coming out of Portlaoise, a Garda car appeared behind me with the blue light flashing. We pulled in and the guard asked me why I was speeding.

“I’m driving Lester Piggott to the races,” says I.

“I don’t care if you’re driving St Patrick!” the guard roared back at me.

Lester muttered something about having a couple of winners. The guard barked “What did you say?” and Lester repied “Nothing”.

The summons duly arrived and I had to go to court. I told the judge I was driving Lester to the races and that he had told the guard he would ride two winners but it wasn’t a bribe. The judge asked ‘What was the outcome of those races?’. When I told him they both won, the judge said: “That was very good advice. Case dismissed.”

Sir Ivor

Lester would always say Sir Ivor was the best he ever rode.

About 10 days before the 2000 Guineas in 1968, we took Sir Ivor to Newmarket for a gallop as the ground was very wet at home. Lester was booked to ride him, I was on the lead horse, Belgrave, and Brian Taylor was on Ballygowran.

They put a racing saddle on Ballygowran, to make it easier for him and harder for Sir Ivor. Brian Taylor was wearing jodhpurs so couldn’t get his feet in the irons of a racing saddle. Lester told him to kick off his boots and ride in his stockinged feet, which he did!

In the gallop Brian came past me and then Lester flew past both of us.

Little did we know that Lester had arranged for his wife Susan to be waiting in a car at the end of the gallop for him. Sir Ivor’s lad Johnny Brabston was there too. Without saying a word Lester handed over the horse to Johnny and drove off.

“Where’s Lester?” asked Vincent.

“He drove off,” I said.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

Brian and I told Vincent how the gallop went but he wasn’t a bit pleased that Lester had gone.

We took the horses back to the Links, dried them off, and were having breakfast when Lester pulls up in the car and beckons me over.

He tells me he had gone to ride work on the second favourite for the Guineas, Petingo, who was trained by Susan’s father, Sam Armstrong.

“Tell Vincent I’ll ride Sir Ivor in the Guineas,” he said. “Now you lads better go and back him because he won’t be 3/1 any more when that news comes out.”

So off we went in a taxi into Newmarket and backed him. I phoned Vincent to tell him Lester would ride the horse. Vincent said: “Well, I wish he had told me!”

Sir Ivor beat Petingo by a length and a half in the Guineas and the Derby by the same.

Good temperament

He didn’t really stay a mile and a half but he was easy to train and had a good temperament. Later in the year he won the Champion Stakes in Newmarket before being sent to Laurel Park in Washington for the D.C. International, which he famously won under a great drive from Lester!

I had just come back from my honeymoon and it was decided to let my wife travel with me and the horse to America. Lester was going to New York afterwards and, by chance, so were my wife and I. “Call me when you get there,” Lester said.

He took us out to dinner with Lou Levy, the famous music publisher. We ended up in the Copa Cabana club where Tom Jones was singing. He came over and had a drink with us. That was how nice and thoughtful Lester was.

People say he was mean but that’s not true. He always remembered my birthday and would give me a call every Christmas. I went on holidays with him and spent time with him in Geneva. As everyone knows, Lester loved ice cream. His classic trick was to order two cones for himself. As he had both hands full he couldn’t pay! That was just his bit of fun.