Chris Wall: 'It was the first and last time Lester bought me anything'

There is no shortage of memorable tales about Lester Piggott and the way he moved through the world, with those who adored him doing so almost as much for his ability to get himself into – and out of – a sticky situation as much as his skill on horseback.

Newmarket trainer Chris Wall tells one such story of the time he accompanied Piggott on a trip to France in 1972, when Piggott was riding in the Prix du Jockey Club.

The charismatic rider won at Chantilly as Hard To Beat finished clear of 12 rivals for trainer Richard Carver jnr.

The story from Wall includes the troubles the pair faced getting to the track, as well as what happened after Piggott's victory.

Explaining the full story, Wall spoke about how the day unfolded: "I flew to Chantilly on Prix du Jockey Club day with Lester on his plane which had the number HERO. Usually when you get to these airstrips there was a taxi waiting but when we landed there was nothing there at all.

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"Lester asked what my French was like, which was limited, and I managed to find a phone in a hut a mile away and eventually we got a cab. On Derby day over there they close off half of the town and the driver didn't know the way.

"Lester just kept telling him to go down this road and that, which were all closed off. He actually had me get out and move barriers so we could get to the track, and we were going well until we ran into a gendarme with his arm raised and a gun on his hip.

"Lester just said, 'Tell him to **** off'. I didn't know what **** off was in French luckily enough, but when they saw who was in the back they erupted, 'Monsieur Piggott allez allez', and we were waved through.

Lester Piggott was accompanied to France by Chris WallCredit: Edward Whitaker

"As I remember, Lester won the race and afterwards we passed an ice cream van and Lester asked if me and my nephew wanted an ice cream. At this point my hand was going to my pocket as Lester never ever paid for anything. I couldn't believe it when he pulled out some Francs from somewhere and gave it to the chap.

"That was the first and last time he bought me anything and I still ended up paying for the taxi both ways!"

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