Tony McCoy

“I think I'm skilful enough, but I don't consider myself a naturally talented, gifted sports person.”

“I like challenging myself. I'm not a person who likes not to work.”

“You need fear and doubt to drive you on. Without it, you end up living in the past and being happy with what you have achieved.”

“For eight or 10 years, I got wrapped up in chasing records. Everything was a number. Didn't matter what I won, it was a number. Every horse I rode was a number.”

“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.”

“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.”

“A lot of healing is in the mind. I'm not talking about serious illnesses like cancer. I'm talking about ordinary broken bones. Healing begins in the head. You have to convince yourself you can do it.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I suppose I'm happy when I know I've given a horse a good ride, no matter where it is. I like playing golf in the summer; I'm happy when I hit a good shot, and I enjoy watching Arsenal playing beautiful football, but overall I can't believe you can be happy when you're not winning. I honestly can't accept that.”

“When I was a kid, if someone had asked who I'd meet if it could be anyone in the world, it would've been Liam Brady.”

“I know from sitting around with injuries how difficult life will be without racing and riding winners.”

“I get butterflies before going out to ride every day, but they disappear as soon as I am on a horse, and I think that is the same for most jockeys. Then it is just down to you and the horse, and there is a certain freedom in that.”

“It always hurts a bit to pick the 'wrong one' in a race as big as the Champion Hurdle, and then, to make matters worse, you go and get beat by the horse you rejected.”

“Really racing is about the horses, not me. You can't do it without the horses, and they are the big players as are the lads who look after them, and they rarely get a mention.”

“During every race, an ambulance trails the riders around the course. You know that sometimes you are going to end up in the back of that ambulance.”

“Racing may be a minority sport, but I wouldn't swap it for all the money in the world.”

“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.”

“You only worry about your head or spinal column. Everything else, some way or another, will repair in time.”

“When I'm injured, I eat everything - proper junk. That's the one thing about being injured so much, I get to treat myself.”