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Tony Mccoy Quotes

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The criticism does not hurt because I have always been my own worst critic. I wouldn't say I don't respect other people's opinions, but my opinion is the most important.

- Tony McCoy

The Most Important, Always, Critic

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

Achievement, Been, Before, Flat

Essentially, I am a dreamer. I've dreamed all my life. When I started, I dreamed I'd be Champion because it is a sport that is all about the people who win the most, and I have a fear of not winning.

- Tony McCoy

My Life, Dreamer, About, Champion

Horses are like people - they have different personalities. They can be nice, friendly and hard-working, or awkward, difficult and lazy. If horses were people, some would be on the dole, and others would be entrepreneurs.

- Tony McCoy

Some, Like, Friendly, Dole

Many of us in the jockeys' room are wasting to ride many pounds below our natural weight, but all the while you are doing that, you also want to ensure that you are as strong as possible so that you can give your mount every possible chance in a race.

- Tony McCoy

Strong, Doing, Wasting, Mount

I dream up things, and then I convince myself that they're possible.

- Tony McCoy

Myself, Dream, Convince, I Dream

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

Break, Move, Still, Cope

I have found the right way to deal with my diet, largely through trial and error, but also by having good people around me all the time, and they have given me the right advice for my body.

- Tony McCoy

Advice, Through, Deal, Right Way

A helmet is the most important part of any jockey's kit because of the number of falls you take, so I wouldn't want to be wearing anything on the track unless it had been thoroughly tested.

- Tony McCoy

Tested, Been, Part, Helmet

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

Green, Been, Trained, Supporters

My first winner was on Legal Steps, in Ireland, at Thurles, in March 1992. I rode for Jim Bolger, and his stable jockey was Christy Roche.

- Tony McCoy

Steps, Rode, Jockey, Christy

The National is about however long it takes to run that race - eight minutes of fame - but champion jockey is about racing 365 days a year. I actually wouldn't swap any of my winners for the National.

- Tony McCoy

Winners, However, 365 Days, Jockey

I never had a written contract, was never officially a stable jockey.

- Tony McCoy

Never, Contract, Stable, Jockey

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

Being, Shed, Lengthy, Jockey

When I started off riding, you dream about being champion jockey. Then I wanted to be champion jockey again. Then I wanted to ride 200 winners in a season. Then, when there was a chance of riding more winners than Richard Dunwoody, that was my goal.

- Tony McCoy

Ride, Riding, About, Jockey

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

- Tony McCoy

Worry, Repair, Some, Spinal

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

Doing, Next, Your, Flow

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

Surprise, Will, Hours, Struggle

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

Challenges, Why, Riding, Struggle

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

Next, Some, Very, Decades

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

Ride, Lie, Hot, Way Home

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

- Tony McCoy

Racing, Injuries, Winners, Sitting

I think I've always used the whip in the correct way. I see marked horses every day, and it's not a pretty sight, but I've never marked a horse. Never.

- Tony McCoy

Think, Always, Marked, Whip

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.

- Tony McCoy

Happy, Enjoy, Believe, Arsenal

It's not hard to motivate myself because once you get a taste for winning races, you simply don't want to do anything else. You get a buzz from it. You want it every day. Only someone who has experienced winning can understand how good it feels.

- Tony McCoy

Every Day, Taste, Feels, Motivate

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

Will, Over, Which, Trainers

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

Racing, Behind, Part, Einstein

I've always got a sweet tooth. I have chocolate hidden in places that nobody knows about.

- Tony McCoy

Sweet Tooth, Hidden, Always, Tooth

If I go racing tomorrow and I have five rides that all get beaten, all I want to do is get out there the next day and put it right. I hate having Sundays off; I hate having any day off.

- Tony McCoy

Racing, Next, Having, Sundays

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.

- Tony McCoy

Big, Race, Always, Hurdle

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