Lester Piggott, what a legend

It’s a much warmer morning with the temperature set to soar here in the east. There is very little chance of any rain, although they say we may get some on Thursday. We have had a good morning with the horses with Dan Muscutt in to ride a bit of work at second lot. We galloped on the Farm Canter over five furlongs and all went well.

There is a fantastic article today on Lester Piggott in the Racing Post. He was without doubt the world’s best jockey and the best we will ever see. He was a horseman through and through with both sides of his pedigree steeped in the industry. His mother, by all accounts, was a most influential figure and I am sure that is right. There are some great stories told by his contemporary’s but basically he is greatly admired by everybody and nobody ever has a bad word to say about Lester. When asked if today’s equivalent Frankie was as good as him his reply was ‘maybe in another 50 years’. What a jockey, what a man. Compulsory reading for everybody.

I see that Longchamp have announced they are going to put on far more facilities for this year’s Arc after the debacle of last year when the new stand was given the once over by the big crowd. There were so many complaints about the bars, the betting terminals and the toilets that the French, this time, have decided to put on what they call the biggest pub they could erect. There will be many more loos and the food outlets will be moving from the front to the back. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is complete madness that architects are allowed to go their own way with the stands rather than listen or even ask somebody who knows what is required. Longchamp and the new Curragh are two examples of what not to build. The officials will say they will learn from it and change, but it is very hard to change the structure of buildings once they are built, especially nowadays. It should all have been done in the first place. I am sure this year’s Arc will be one of the most attended ever with Enable trying to win her third on the trot and the crowds will be crammed in. Let’s hope the complaints are down to a minimum this year.