Piggott on the double for stint
LESTER Piggott has landed his first winners on the comeback trail following a horrific fall in Florida last October and is now looking forward to re-opening his account in Hongkong in his latest riding stint, which commences on Wednesday.
Piggott's first winners back were registered at Jebel Ali racecourse, Dubai, on Thursday; the significance here is not the names and races concerned, but merely how the 57-year-old sports legend found the whole experience after more than three months on the sidelines. ''It is good to be back riding again,'' said Piggott.
''I missed it. It is also good to be back winning again,'' he added with a smile. A half-bred named Bonita, and a five-year-old thoroughbred, Aghaadir, who was formerly trained in Britain by John Gosden, combined to give Piggott a winning double on his second day back in the saddle. He had finished second on two of his four mounts on the first day at Sheik Mohammed's Nad al Sheba racecourse.
When the Nad al Sheba fixture got under way, Piggott was saved from ''doing a Moses'', for while not quite stuck in the desert 40 days and 40 nights, he had spent a week longer than planned as freak storms hit Dubai and the meeting was twice postponed. Piggott's injuries were basically in the collarbone and upper chest region, and he worked very hard to get back to full fitness.
Constant walking and swimming have helped speed up his recovery, and he was riding out in Dubai for a week before his first race.
The 11-time British champion is expected to ''breeze'' through the medical the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club insist upon before issuing licences to overseas jockeys.
HOW much longer does racing have to face the barrage of unfair and inaccurate criticism being levelled at it over whips? That is the question being asked in the game following the announcement last Monday that the Stewards had passed proposals for new whip guidelines. Like many others here, I was appalled at the ''News at Ten'' report on ITN recently that seemed to do its very best to paint racing in the worst possible light.
We heard what the RSPCA vet had to say, at length. But when it came to Peter Scudamore, he was cut off, being left with a half-comment on a vital issue. Millions were eager to hear what the champion jumps jockey, a respected leader of his profession, had to say, but instead, Scudamore was dragged into the piece, portrayed as a villain.
First he was attacked over his riding of Riverside Boy at Taunton, for which he had received a suspension for marking his mount - frankly, this was one of the rides of the season - and then he was given a sarcastic pat on the back for winning on Big Ben Dun at Lingfield. On the latter occasion he lost his whip, and to keep his mount going he used the slack of the reins to slap his mount.
The point of the story surely was that the Stewards of the Jockey Club had passed virtually all the proposals regarding new whip guidelines. To the outside world, racing was being responsible. It had made every reasonable effort to adopt a cleaner image, and should have been applauded for so doing.
But instead, the very sad feature of the scene here in Britain is that fanatics are being permitted the loudest voice, urged on by well-meaning innocents who know nothing about the subject.
It surely has come to the point where someone, somewhere, must give the professionals involved - trainers and jockeys, most of whom are highly knowledgeable and responsible people - some credit. Would Henry Cecil permit a jockey to beat any of his horses? Would Michael Stoute tolerate any cruelty to any horse in his yard? Would Michael Roberts ''savage'' any horse he rides? To each question the answer is an emphatic ''no''. Clearly, the time has now come for the Jockey Club to take on more responsibility.
Having taken a responsible line regarding use of the whip - some would say it has been unnecessary and ill-advised over-reaction - they should now tell the fanatics: ''Enough. We know racing and horses, and we know what we are doing.'' David Pipe, spokesman for the Jockey Club, assures me: ''We are not out to punish good riding.'' He says that a jockey who hit a horse more than five times will not automatically be suspended; that it is merely that number that triggers ''a look'' by the Stewards.
In my view, if the Jockey Club mean that, they have a duty to the many honourable people they licence each year to stand up for them. They are not being cruel. MEMORIES of the great Arkle will be revived when an eight-year-old chaser called Cherrykino tackles the Gold Cup at Cheltenham on March 18.
For Cherrykino, who has now won his last six races on the trot, carries the famous yellow and black colours of Anne, Duchess of Westminster. The owner saw Arkle win the Gold Cup in 1964-65-66, and also her chaser Ten Up take the premier race at the Festival in 1975. While trainer Tim Forster admits that Cherrykino has many pounds to find on the form book, he adds: ''He will probably take his chance in the race. He is improving so fast, and he will like the extra distance.'' The gelding is actually the last surviving relative of Arkle still racing - his grand-dam was a half-sister to the legendary chaser - and he was winning over two miles, five furlongs, at Wincanton on Thursday. The Gold Cup is an extra five furlongs. Bookmakers make Cherrykino a 25-1 shot for the Gold Cup, but if one ignores the favourite, The Fellow, now at 7-4, it is a very open-looking race.