Jockey Legrix hangs up his tack

Eric Legrix, the winner of more than 1,300 races - 91 of them at the Group 1 or Grade 1 level - during a 27-year riding career, announced his retirement from the saddle Sunday after guiding Sparkle to victory at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore. Best known in America as the rider on Miss Alleged in her victory in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs, the 44-year-old Frenchman will now join Miss Alleged's trainer, Pascal Bary, as an assistant at Chantilly.

Legrix's biggest win also was his most famous defeat. Riding the Patrick-Louis Biancone-trained Sagace to what appeared to be a second consecutive victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1985, he was disqualified and the race awarded to Rainbow Quest. Among his big-race winners in France were Sagace in the Prix d'Ispahan, Caerlina in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks), Trebrook in the Prix du Cadran, Magistros in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, and Vin de France in the Prix Jacques le Marois.

Due to weight problems, he spent most of the last 15 years riding in Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore, with occasional stints in Japan. In Asia, he won the Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Singapore.