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When groups of
racing fanatics sit around a table discussing jockeys there is invariably lively debate, especially when they have to decide on the five most famous jockeys of all time. Adding national pride from respective countries is a recipe for more heated exchanges!
In choosing the world’s five all-time greats one cannot simply compare modern-day jockeys with their colleagues of yesteryear in respect of vast differences in stake earnings. There will be a measure of subjectivity for every enthusiast asked for an opinion and their choices will differ, but we believe the five below qualify as the most famous off all time with world popularity taken as the discerning factor.
1. Frankie Dettori
Dettori has been Champion Jockey in the UK on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races. He has a hugely popular Italian flamboyance, a remarkable and humourous way with words and invented the famous ‘Dettori dismount in the winner’s enclosure. Having survived a helicopter crash and having ridden seven winners in a single day at Ascot gave Frankie A-list celebrity status and immortality among racing fans. While he is arguably not the best jockey ever, he is certainly top of the pole when it comes to consistent media attention, known in all corners of the world and therefore the most famous of them all.
2. William “Bill” Shoemaker
American Bill Shoemaker’s career as a jockey kicked off when he was just a teenager. He quickly found success in horse racing and within a year of beginning his professional career, he became the US Champion Jockey. He won all the US classics several times and rode a long-time record 8,883 winners in total, making him a part of US folklore.
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3. Lester Piggott
With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, Piggott is widely regarded as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time and the originator of a much imitated riding style. Popularly known as "The Long Fellow" he was known for his competitive personality, though was reserved and never to say much to trainers, owners and the press. Lester Piggott, still alive at 85, will be in most experts’ Top 3 choices, and many will argue that he is the greatest rider of them all.
4. Sir AP “Tony” McCoY
Irishman Tony McCoY, the heralded jumps jockey, rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year that he was a professional. McCoy has won almost every big race there is to win, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase and the 2010 Grand National. He was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010, becoming the first jockey to win the award, and in December 2013 he was named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year. He was knighted in January 2016.
5. Sir Gordon Richards
We go back to the early 20
th century for Sir Gordon Richards (1904 – 1986), the British flat racing Champion Jockey 26 times and popularly considered one of greatest jockey ever. He rode 4870 winners, still a British record, and remains the only flat jockey to have been knighted.
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