How Lester Piggott was negotiated out of the ride on record-breaking Shergar

Sir Michael Stoute and Wally Swinburn have revealed how negotiations between the pair saw Lester Piggott lose out on the ride on the record-breaking 1981 Derby winner Shergar in favour of a teenage Walter Swinburn.

Stoute and Swinburn were talking to the Racing Post for a major feature in Sunday's newspaper on the 40th anniversary of Shergar's astonishing triumph by ten lengths, a record winning distance that still survives to this day.

Piggott had ridden Shergar in both his two-year-old races but found himself a spectator for the horse's three-year-old campaign - save for when deputising for the suspended Swinburn in the Irish Derby - thanks to the intervention of Peter Walwyn.

"Walter had ridden quite a few winners for me in 1980," said Stoute. "He was a very gifted rider. He had a great temperament and the most beautiful hands. I told Walter I would offer him a modest retainer but, bearing in mind he was only 19, he wouldn't have the first choices. P T Walwyn then did him a favour by trying to get him as first jockey at Seven Barrows. I had to bite the bullet and tell him he had better come here."

Groom Dickie McCabe leads in Shergar and Walter Swinburn following the 1981 King George at AscotCredit: Gerry Cranham

Through the backend of 1980, the rider had been represented in negotiations by his father Wally, who said: "Peter Walwyn played hell with me because I had more or less said that it would be great for Walter to join him. There were two or three other people after him as well. He was in great demand.

"When Stoutey heard about Peter's interest he was adamant he wanted Walter. It was then that I said to Michael: 'Yes, but he rides the lot'. That obviously included Shergar.

"Lester was riding quite a bit for Michael at the time, so I admire him greatly for the confidence he showed in Walter. He had so much ammunition and, for me, his job was certainly the best you could have in the UK. You can imagine how thrilled Walter was that Michael wanted him to be his stable jockey."

Swinburn duly became principal rider to Stoute, with whom he enjoyed a long and successful partnership. He retired in 2000 and tragically died in an accident at his London home in December 2016.

Wally Swinburn added: "Walter was clear that he never rode another horse like Shergar. It was a remarkable Derby won by a remarkable horse, there's no doubt about that. I just can't believe it's 40 years ago. Where has the time gone? Walter would have been 60 this year."

Read more from Sir Michael Stoute, Wally Swinburn and many others in The Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.

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