I have seen countless colleagues struggle to come to terms with retirement. I learned a lot from Richard Dunwoody when he was riding, and I completely understand why he took off and undertook what most people consider mad challenges. – Tony McCoy
Sir Gordon Richards was the most successful jockey – flat or jumps – there’s ever been: champion jockey for 26 years. He set a record of 269 winners in the season 55 years before I broke it. That was my greatest achievement. – Tony McCoy
There are many tough sides to being a jockey. Injury is something we all dread, but spending lengthy periods in the bath or the sauna just to shed a few pounds can be an exhausting and draining experience. – Tony McCoy
There is no place for arrogance or complacency in racing because you are up there one minute and on your backside the next. – Tony McCoy
Most days, I have a slice of toast, then lie in a hot bath for an hour to get up a sweat. I have a sauna at the racecourse and then go and ride. On the way home, I might stop at a service station and have a bar of chocolate and a Diet Coke. And that’s it, basically. – Tony McCoy
I feel pressure every day. It is only pressure that I put on myself, but I would expect all professional sportspeople to feel pressure to perform their best whenever they are at work. – Tony McCoy
Even though people involved in racing think that it has a big sporting stage, it is a minority sport compared to some of the other high-profile events: football, Formula One or golf. – Tony McCoy
If you ask most trainers who have ridden which pressure is greater – watching your horse or riding it – they will tell you it is harder watching it because you have no control over what happens. – Tony McCoy
When you give someone a commitment to ride their horse, you do it – unless, God forbid, something serious has happened. It would be laziness not to do it. – Tony McCoy
I was determined my 4,000th winner would be in the green and gold colours of J. P. McManus and trained by Jonjo O’Neill, who have been my greatest supporters. – Tony McCoy
It will not surprise you to learn that it is not uncommon for jockeys who struggle with their weight to starve themselves and spend hours in the sauna to lose a few pounds to be able to make a big-race ride. – Tony McCoy
I was told that there’s near on a million to one chance that I would be able to have children. – Tony McCoy
You don’t have to be Einstein to see that horse racing is dangerous. Those two ambulances driving behind you aren’t there for the scenery. I will never get over the fatalities of colleagues. It is the saddest and toughest part of this sport. – Tony McCoy
If you’ve got a regular feed of winners, you control your mind to do it. It becomes a must. If you didn’t have that regular flow of winning, whether you could get yourself to do that, I don’t know. It’s a lot easier when you know the next day you can win and you can win and win, it’s worth doing it. – Tony McCoy
Racing is a great sport, but we need people to come along and see that for themselves. Maybe they’re not used to going racing or haven’t been before, but I think people get a taste for it; they do come back. – Tony McCoy
I’ve been on some very good horses which have died, and that’s very tough to take. But as much as we love the horses, and care for them, human life is obviously more important. Some good friends of mine have died or been paralysed while doing a job we all love. – Tony McCoy
If you break your sternum or your ribs, you can still move. It’s going to hurt, but if you can cope with it, you’ll do it. – Tony McCoy
By the nature of the sport and the danger we face daily, we are very close knit. Some of us have spent most of our lives together. To give you an example, having spent two decades sitting next to Richard Johnson and seeing him virtually every day, I have probably spent more time with him than I have my family, and he the same. – Tony McCoy
When I’m injured, I eat everything – proper junk. That’s the one thing about being injured so much, I get to treat myself. – Tony McCoy
I’m very lucky to live my life through a sport that I love. I’m in a very privileged position that my work is my hobby. – Tony McCoy