the 1954 epsom derby.

​I was born in April 1954, the year a genius of the turf was confirmed. Not me, I hasten to add. But Lester Piggott, a jockey I knew nothing about, even come June 2nd when I was all of six-weeks old. I doubt if Lester caught my attention, I guess, till ten-years later and perhaps did not appreciate him until he rode Nijinsky to victory in the 1970 Epsom Derby. Incidentally, and nothing to do with the title of this piece, I gained short-lived notoriety with a few acquaintances when I not only nominated Nijinsky a ‘certainly’ but predicted correctly in the right order the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, Gyr, Stintino and Great Wall, a feat I couldn’t accomplish now in a four-horse race.
Anyway, with little else to boast about, I will return to the Derby of my birth year.
Derby Day was cold and gloomy, its cold touch persuading many devotees to stay at home and attendance was the smallest for many a year. In those days, as at Royal Ascot, though not in a horse and four, the Queen was driven up the course in a limousine, keeping well off the racing line, of course. She had a runner, Landau, a lively outsider, ridden by Willie Snaith, the jockey immortalised in Newmarket by a street named in his honour. It was the Earl of Roseberry who greeted Her Majesty on arrival and no doubt they chatted about the very unlike June weather. Sir Winston Churchill, a keen horseman and race-goer, and later a prominent and successful owner, was a guest in the royal box.
Gordon Richards should have been aboard Landau but injury kept him at home. He remained in 1954 both knighted and still the sport’s most popular jockey, which was remarkable considering only the year before he had denied Her Majesty a Derby winner only days after she had bestowed his knighthood on him in her Coronation honours list.
Many of the 22-runners were blessed with having some of the most highly regarded jockeys of many generations on their back. Bill Rickaby had the distinction of failing to finish, pulling up Cloonrougham. The Australian jockey Edgar Britt finished last on Rokimos. Michael Beary was 16th on Alpenhorn. Frankie Durr 13th on Blue Rod. Joe Mercer 12th on Moonlight Express. Rae Johnstone 11th on the joint-favourite Ferriol. The American jockey Johnnie Longden 10th on Blue Sail. Harry Carr 6th on Blue Prince. Charley Smirke 4th on Elopement. Manny Mercer 3rd on Darius.
Doug Smith was 7th in the race on Rowston Manor, perhaps the best horse northern trainer Harry Peacock ever had in his charge. The horse had won the Lingfield Derby Trial impressively enough to start at Epsom as 5/1 joint favourite. His finishing position makes clear he ran well but he was a soft-ground horse and though the weather was gloomy on the day, the cold wind kept drying out the ground. Perhaps connections considered taking him out of the race but it was the Derby, their only chance, perhaps, of winning the great race. They ran and the horse finished lame and never ran again. A sobering lesson of choosing the right moment to discover how good your horse might be. Epsom and the speed of the race can be a breaker of fragile 3-year-old colts. At least these days, the course can be watered.
The Derby was worth £17,000 to the winner, the equivalent of £595,000 today, so at least the Derby prize-fund has kept tabs with inflation.
It was a barrier start back then, of course, adding to the jeopardy of a unique racecourse. Starts pre-starting-stalls were rarely anything but ragged and races could be delayed for up to twenty-minutes as the starter battled to get the runners in some semblance of straightness. On this occasion the race started on-time and in reasonable order.
Moonlight Express led early, with Landau on his tail. Elopement and Arabian Night made progress as they climbed to the summit of the Downs, where L'Avengro took command. Rounding Tattenham Corner all the main contender were in touch, with Rowston Manor and Doug Smith the first to strike for home, followed by Elopement, Arabian Night and Darius. Yet in the wings, patient beyond his years, a long-legged teenager was biding his time, waiting for the precise moment to unleash his spring to glory. Never Say Die was a 33/1 outsider. Lester Piggott, riding with a longer stirrup leather than a modern-day jump jockey, was brash, collecting as many enemies as admirers in his up till then career, was about to land the first of his nine Derby winners.
Never Say Die was the first American-bred horse to win the Epsom Derby since Iroquois in 1881 and the first American-owned winner since 1914.
Horse racing history was being made and I knew absolutely nothing about it and it was a long time before I did.
Bill Rickaby, who didn’t finish the race in 1954, was Lester’s uncle and wrote in his autobiography ‘First To Finish’ that Lester was the greatest jockey he had ever seen and would ever likely to see. A good call. I wonder when it will be before someone compares Billy Loughnane to Lester, as I have already done.