Lester Piggott is '˜banned' as Rivet nails it

The legendary nine-times champion jockey, who retired from the saddle just over 20 years ago, bred Rivet and co-owns the top two-year-old horse with leading owner-breeders John Magnier and Michael Tabor as well as long-standing South African family friend Des Scott.

Yet, at present, Piggott finds himself banned from watching Rivet by his daughter, Maureen Haggas, whose Skipton-born husband, William, trains this top juvenile, who came to prominence six weeks ago when winning the prestigious Champagne Stakes on Town Moor.

Since then, Rivet was bitterly disappointing in Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes – the only time that Piggott, the winner of a record 30 Classics – has watched his horse in action.

“The one time daddy came, the horse ran a stinker. He is banned!” joked Haggas in the winner’s enclosure.

“My father bred him with Mr Magnier, Mr Tabor and Mr Scott and that’s very special.

“My mother (Susan) bought the grand dam a long time ago off Mr Oppenheimer, another breeder and friend of the family.

“Our mare Starship, every horse she’s bred has been a good one.

“Rivet never overdoes it at home so you can run him. He’s taking his racing well, looks well and the ground wasn’t bottomless.

“You have to take these opportunities when they present themselves.”

Last in the stalls, Rivet was first out of gate and controlled the race from the front, accelerating clear with eye-catching ease in the final furlong as the Aidan O’Brien-trained favourite Yucatan launched a brief and ultimately fruitless challenge, with the outsider Salouen third.

Opinion was divided afterwards about Rivet’s possible targets in 2017 – some shrewd observers think the horse has stamina in abundance and could ultimately line up in the Epsom Derby, a race the aforementioned Piggott made his own.

However, connections believe a mile – the distance of the Racing Post Trophy – could be Rivet’s ultimate distance.

The dilemma is that the colt did not handle Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course in the Dewhurst, the venue for the 2000 Guineas over a mile.

Unable to dictate from the front, he was less than fluent there when the track dipped in the final two furlongs, though the O’Brien-trained winner Churchill is a potential superstar, and Haggas said that the French or Irish Guineas could enter the equation.

“It will be up to William and the owners. Some horses don’t handle Newmarket – and it all went pear-shaped for us in the Dewhurst,” added Haggas,

“Daddy has always said Newmarket-trained horses don’t always run well at Newmarket. I said to him we had thought about taking horses there on the morning of the race and leaving them in the stable. He said ‘don’t be so stupid’.”

Piggott’s five wins in this race – courtesy of Ribocco (1966), Noble Decree (1972), Apalachee (1973), Dunbeath (1982) and Lanfranco (1984) – all came before the Racing Post’s sponsorship.

However, the 80-year-old, watching at home, will have been supremely impressed with the horesmanship of Rivet’s jockey, Andrea Atzeni, who was winning this race for a fourth successive year following wins on Kingston Hill (2013), Elm Park (2014) and Marcel last year.

Though Kingston Hill won the following year’s St Leger, Elm Park and Marcel did not go on to Classic glory and Sardinian-born Atzeni told The Yorkshire Post that he thought Rivet would be a top-class miler.

“Kingston Hill was more of a miler but this fella has more speed,” said Atzeni, 25. “To win on this horse is special – Lester Piggott is Lester Piggott. Everyone knows him. I must be doing something right.”