Victory' and trained by English trainer John Brown to whom Eddery rode for many seasons in winter in Hong Kong since 10 November 1973. In the following decade, Eddery became associated with the Irish Ballydoyle stable of Vincent O'Brien and gained further classic success on Kings Lake, Lomond, Golden Fleece, Assert and El Gran Senor. In 1986, on the choice of the horse's owner, he took over from Greville Starkey as the rider of Dancing Brave. He partnered Dancing Brave to victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and became the worldwide retained jockey of the colt's owner, Khalid Abdullah. While the press played up in the course of years the controversy between Starkey and Eddery, Eddery had been most reticent and underplayed the apparent falling out. Major winners in the Abdullah colours included Zafonic, Quest for Fame, Warning and Toulon. He was Champion Jockey a further seven times in eleven years between 1986 and 1996. His epic battle for championship in 1987 with American Steve Cauthen was particularly intense, with Cauthen winning the title with 197 and Eddery coming close at 195, and but for an objection from the third horse after the last definitive race in which Eddery won against Cauthen making the Championship a tie, the title would have been a shared one. In the year 1988, Eddery completed 183 winners from 480 odd rides – which was a great strike rate, and regained the title. Eddery also rode several major winners outside Europe including Jupiter Island in the 1986 Japan Cup and Pebbles in the 1985 Breeders' Cup Turf In North America he also won the Arlington Million on Tolomeo, the Canadian International Stakes on French Glory and the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Sheikh Albadou. An active racing ambassador overseas since his early years, Eddery joined forces with Lester Piggott, Joe Mercer and French champion Freddie Head and Yves Saint-Martin in a group of riders to take part in a series of challenge races under the 'Ritz Club Challenge Trophy' at Singapore and other Asian cities starting in 1983 for several years. Eddery's overseas winners, tallying with his British winners, exceeded well over 6,000. In 1990 he was the winner of the inaugural Lester Award for Flat Jockey of the Year, which he again won in 1991 and 1996, sharing on the latter occasion with Frankie