Lester must be handed birthplace tribute fit for a king
Piggott statues are everywhere but you have to look hard in his former home town, writes Marcus Armytage
Alife-size bronze statue of Lester Piggott will be unveiled by the man himself in the paddock at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile tomorrow before racing.
The great jockey is as synonymous with the home of horse racing – where he lived for most of his career and even trained briefly – as he is with Epsom, where he won the Derby nine times.
But before you start thinking this is some kind of deja vu, you are absolutely right; a few of the nine editions of Willie Newton’s excellent bronze are already out there. It is uniquely, er, ubiquitous.
The Queen unveiled the one at Epsom on Derby day this year, there is one at Ascot, another at York. Ireland is interested in one, Hong Kong in another and the United States another (which leaves one available for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square) and, for the sprightly Lester, 83, unveiling himself has been almost a full-time job this summer.
But it is Newton’s Lester in Wantage, my local town, which I wish to discuss.
Wantage is, of course, probably best known as the birthplace of Alfred the Great, whose statue dominates the market square. By Count Gleichen, it was unveiled in 1877 and, in what I guess is an indictment of our times, lasted until New Year’s Eve 2007 before it was vandalised (in the process of someone trying to take Alfred’s axe, his arm fell off).
Alfred was born in 849 (ish), and until 1935 no one else of huge significance was born in my town. But on Nov 5 that year, Lester became the first baby to be delivered in Wantage’s then new hospital.
In 2004, I was hoping my own son would follow in Lester’s footsteps and touch down at the very same hospital. That, I reckoned, would be a good start in life for a son I (mistakenly) just assumed would be a jockey.
However, a couple of minor complications meant we had a midnight transfer to a bigger hospital in Oxford.
I told the ambulance driver I would follow in my own car, that I was looking forward to the challenge of laying up with him and added, tongue in cheek, “and crashing a few red lights”.
“Don’t try it, sonny,” he warned without a hint of fun, “you won’t be able to keep up.” Then, to my huge disappointment, he drove it like a hearse with the petrol warning light on and proceeded to go 10mph below the speed limit the whole way. Eventually, I overtook and was waiting for him at the far end.
Anyway, this week I popped into Wantage’s beautifully curated Vale and Downland Museum – I could spend all day in there. Among the eclectic collection of locally found fossil ammonites, flint arrow heads, the skeleton of an Anglosaxon woman who predates even King Alfred, and Damon Hill’s Williams F1 car – Williams is a local business – I sought out the Lester statue.
I found Sir John Betjeman, poet and parishioner, soon enough because his bust is parked by the front door, but Lester took a little more finding.
Eventually, I found him tucked away in a corner of the tea garden, marginally less visible than he would have been had he been riding a non-trier in a 25-runner handicap at Kempton. But, I guess, less likely to be vandalised or stolen.
The original idea for the sculpture and, indeed, the accompanying Lester exhibition, which lasts until Christmas, came from local racing journalist Neil Morrice and well done him for getting the project this far.
But how many towns can boast being the birthplace of one of the greatest sportsmen of the 20th century?
It is my contention that Wantage should celebrate its heritage by putting him in a more prominent position. I am not sure what the footfall of the museum is – it is the town’s best-kept secret – but, I cannot help thinking, Newton’s Piggott would be seen by more people if it was in the foyer of the local chiropodist.
The local MP, Ed Vaizey, has done something Lester rarely did; lost his whip. In those circumstances, he cannot be any good for help in this quest, so I shall just leave it out there; let us put him in the market place with Alfred and call it Lester Square.
He was the first baby to be delivered in Wantage’s then new hospital