Video of Lester Piggott aboard "Never Say Die"

MO · January 23, 2007, 06:15:05 PM

Thanks NC Tony!

Here\'s the video. It will take a few minutes to load and you will need Quick Time player to view this.

Also, when the video loads, click on the arrow at bottom left. You may have to do this 2 times to get it started. This is not MTV quality video, but my focus was on the picture of Piggott. As I pan away, that\'s Rory Best at the end of the clip if you can see him at all, most likely not.

More pics and videos to come so check back often.

Imagine that...betting on horses and cashing a winning ticket proved (arguably) to be the birth of the Beatles!!!

http://www.markokeeffebugler.com/videosfromliverpool.htm

P.S. I have included 2 videos of the OTB shops there. The only American signal I saw was from Philadelphia Park, just 30 miles up the road from home.....

TGAB · January 23, 2007, 07:06:00 PM

There\'s a movie documentary which if I recall correctly is titled \"The Fifth Beatle\". It was put out either in the late 90\'s or earlier this decade. Anyway it\'s about Pete Best who was the original drummer in the Beatles before they became the Beatles and I think, for a short time after the name switch. He wasn\'t very good, but he was good looking, friendly with John and Paul, and his mother ran a hot club, the basement of her house, which catered to teenagers. The movie details Pete\'s story and makes mention of the bet of which you talk. I think the movie said Pete\'s mom bet 200 pounds, a lot more money in those days than now, to win on Never Say Die in the Grand National or the Cheltenham Gold Cup (the race which helped make Michael Dickinson legendary when he saddled first through fifth in a 1980s or so rendition). Anyway she took the proceeds and bought the new house and converted the basement to a club. And from there...

MO · January 23, 2007, 07:55:58 PM

YES. That\'s right, just as Rory explained. Being excited, ADHD impaired and a novice handling a camera, I did my BEST (no pun intended) to capture the moment. Glad to know you are a fan as well. Perhaps its time we shared a beer,after all these years, eh boss?

shanahan · January 23, 2007, 08:06:24 PM

yes, you have it right TGAB...I have always thought the day I saw Cigar at Arlington Park was the closest I would ever have an analogy to the Beatles...you could not get close to the paddock, people were 20 deep on the windows (to see him, not to bet)...unreal! And he was just so cool, watching the stands...clearly lunderstood he was the attraction, and did not disappoint!

I gave up Cards/Cubs for that...the wife went to Wrigley, her dad went with me!

MO · January 23, 2007, 08:27:28 PM

As Rory Best explained to me there are 2 different copies: The one he has for sale which is titled \"Pete Best of The Beatles\" and the other version \"Best of The Beatles\" which is easily purchased on eBay. Rory has a little gift shop in the club which sells DVD\'s, T-shirts and coffee (err tea) mugs. He also has a book with pics of the guitar he loaned Geogre for the Hamburg tour which was returned chipped, battered and with only 5 strings........another great story. You gotta hang out with this guy.........

I\'d better get off now before the degenerate gamblers complain...........

marcus · January 24, 2007, 11:05:02 AM

early delta guy\'s played w/ the 5 str set-up , open D or D7 tuning across the board . Robert Johnson , \"king of the delta blues\" was one of the main purveyors of this style .

Harrison was one of the best and is certainly up there w / rojo , it\'s no surprise that he would incorporate these values and components in his sound - but i never knew about the 5 str stuff - vg+ interesting , thanks for the excellent post and thread eveyone ... K. Richrds is another great one on the 5 string plan , don\'t know if he still is though ...

and just to keep this on the up and up with those \"degens\" mentioned , today at santa anita\'s race -7- i\'m going w/ a three horse $1 box #3 ,#5 ,#6 and i\'ll either tap out or perhaps buy that old house myself ...

mandown · January 24, 2007, 11:47:47 AM

No wonder this country is in such a state. The club was the CAVERN. The Casbah is where you buy dodgy goods from Arab stall-holders.

And as for Lester Piggott riding Never Say Die to win the Gand National or the Cheltenham Gold Cup I don\'t know which is more fanciful. As Lester rode in a few hurdle races when he was young I suppose it has to be Never Say Die.

He won the Derby at 33-1 and went on to be a relatively successful sire. Very few horses that run in the Grand National have what it takes to be a sire - and if they did they wouldn\'t have them for very long.

MO · January 24, 2007, 12:09:15 PM

I went to the Cavern as well. They are 2 different clubs in 2 different locations. Many people did not know of the Casbah because the Beatles never talked about it. There was a rift between The Beatles and Pete Best. As I said earlier I hung out with Pete\'s brother Rory who provided \"documentation\".

Heres the link:
http://www.casbahcoffeeclub.com/default.asp

Here\'s a photo of me in the Casbah (bottom photo):
http://www.markokeeffebugler.com/picturesfromliverpool.htm

MO · January 24, 2007, 12:13:29 PM

You are welcome but it should be clear that the guitar George borrowed from Rory was returned damaged - thus the 5 strings. Rory still has the guitar and pictures of it before he lent it to George as well as after. The Beatles didn\'t treat Pete Best or Rory Best very well and the scars remain...........

marcus · January 24, 2007, 12:41:34 PM

understood - there is also documentation ( studio session film footage and record contracts ) that would point to lennon and mccartney as the bad guy\'s .

as has been pointed out to me recently ,the bad guy befits mccartney mostly . and i am referencing the film footage where they confront harrison in a recording studio session about an elemental tangential aspect of a guitar stylisation and harrisons\'s tell\'s them something to the affect of - \'sure ,i don\'t have to \"play it like that\" or \"play anything at all for that matter\" if thats what you\'d like \' ... lennon + mccartney instantly cave in and then spent the next few moments doing damage controll ...

no doubt the entire band got lost somewhere along the (bluejay) way - maybe becouse they belived their own press and heavily got into drugs . however \"get back\" might be an indication that at the end , they had finally gotten a dose of their own medicine ...

sorry to hear that news about pete though , it wasn\'t exactly what i expected to hear - very unfortunate and tragic for all the 5 beatles - some of my fav early stuff from the frankfurt days has him ...

also , that 33-1 pay off would be in pounds , well over a hundred dollar horse ...