Lester Piggott to present Champion Jockey trophy

Legendary jockey Lester Piggott will make the trophy presentation to this year's Stobart Champion Flat Jockey on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 17 October, 2015.

Piggott, who won 11 Champion Jockey titles, said: "Being Champion Jockey is the ultimate accolade for any rider. There are, of course, the flagship races throughout the season which you dream of winning, but being Champion Jockey proves you are the best and requires a huge amount of consistency and commitment. It will be a great honour for me to make the presentation to this year's Champion.

"I am pleased to see that there is now a financial reward for the Champion Jockey and the runner up. Fighting to be Champion is not cheap, it drains you rushing from meeting to meeting and jockeys spend a lot of time away from their families – so it's right to have these prizes as recognition of their efforts."

'The Long Fellow' as he was known will be joined up on the podium to present the trophy by the reigning three-times Champion Jockey Richard Hughes, who recently retired from the saddle and joined the training ranks.

Richard Hughes said: "I'm thrilled to be presenting the Champion Jockey trophy to this year's winner, but to be presenting it next to one of my heroes – Lester Piggott – is a real honour. I will be sad to see the trophy go, it's been with me since 2012 and I set out this season with the full intention of winning it back for another year. But I am very happy to be embarking on a training career and wish all the lads in the weighing room the very best of luck for the final weeks of the Championships."

The Stobart Flat Jockeys' Championship looks to have a runaway winner, with Brazilian-born jockey Silvestre De Sousa currently on 102 winners, 30 clear of his nearest rival William Buick on 72*. De Sousa said of his lead: "All I can do is keeping riding the best I can, and hope the trainers keep giving me good horses. I read once that Lester Piggott was asked 'Are you going to win?' to which he replied 'How on earth do you know if you're going to win or not?' – at the moment I feel the same. There are a lot of good jockeys out there who will be gunning for the Championship, so I'm going to give it my all to finish out on top."