By Frank Keogh

In the second of a special two-part look at the 1953 Epsom Derby, we report on the winning jockey's legacy.

A trophy of Sir Gordon and Pinza goes to the 2003 winners SIR GORDON: IN PROFILE Born: Shropshire 5/5/1904 Died: Berkshire 10/11/86 First winner: 1921 Retired: 1954 Total wins: 4,870 Champion jockey: 26 times

Sir Gordon Richards finally ended his hoodoo in the most famous Flat race of all when he landed victory at the 28th attempt.

The newly-knighted champion's triumph aboard Pinza came at the height of the Queen's coronation celebrations, and he beat her horse, Aureole, into second.

The success will be remembered 50 years on with a special bronze trophy of Sir Gordon and Pinza presented to the winners of the 2003 race.

But it is in more than just a trophy in which the name of the champion jockey, who died in 1986 aged 82, lives on. He left a racing legacy which is still being felt today.

Among the current crop of riders, all-conquering jump jockey Tony McCoy and the flamboyant Flat rider Frankie Dettori have delighted the crowds with their achievements.

But on beating his record 269 winners in a season, McCoy modestly suggested he was not in the same league as the only jockey to be knighted.

It is a point not lost on Sir Gordon's daughter Marjorie Read.

McCoy v Richards: Tale of two champions

"I thought it was absolutely brilliant what Tony McCoy did, particularly over the jumps," Mrs Read told this website in an exclusive interview.

"It was a marvellous feat, and rather nice of him to say you can't compare the two."

Dettori, although a different personality to Sir Gordon, is in some ways the modern-day version - an instantly recognisable name, the prey of autograph hunters.

Frankie famously rode all seven winners on a high-class card at Ascot in 1996, yet he could not dream of claiming 12 successes on the trot.

Sir Gordon clocked up the straight dozen over three consceutive meetings, more stepping stones on the way to a total of 4,870 career victories.

"What I think is the most extraordinary thing is my father rode over 200 winners in a season 12 times," said Mrs Read.

In fairness, while Sir Gordon had a less busy fixture list than McCoy, he did not have the weight problems both McCoy and Piggott shared.

Richards weighed barely five stone in his first races, and was 6st 11lbs when he won the first of 26 champion jockey titles in 1925.

He woudn't come in and say a lot because he wasn't a boastful man Marjorie Read on her father, sir Gordon Richards Part One: Knight rider

That statistic alone leaves, for once, his peerless successor Lestor Piggott trailing. Despite landing nine Derbys, Piggott never broke the 200- mark in a season.

And, although he succeeded in a bygone era, Sir Gordon was voted number six in the Racing Post's public poll of the sport's all-time favourite personalities.

Yet, while proud of his success, his was not a flashy kind of fame. A glass of port and 600 racing pigeons kept him happy.

"He wouldn't come in and say a lot, because he wasn't a boastful man," recalled his daughter.

Many of those championships were the product of a fruitful partnership with trainer Fred Darling.

Despite their winning combination, before Pinza arrived the Derby had appeared one race too many.

"My father said he never had a horse that was really good enough to win the Derby," recalled his daughter.

"It was beginning to worry him a little bit that he had not won it."

And he was not expected to win the Classic on that famous June day in 1953. Beaten twice in previous years aboard odds-on shots, he was only a 5-1 chance on Pinza.

Fifty years on from now, on the centenary of that famous occasion, you suspect Sir Gordon Richards might just warrant a mention again.