Tony McCoy says he's no intention of retiring from racing. The 18-times champion jockey created another monumental landmark at Towcester on Thursday when he secured his 4,000th career win over jumps aboard Mountain Tunes. McCoy, 39, admits to having finally achieved contentment in his career, but says retirement is not yet on his radar.
He said: "There are any amount of people around who don't think I'm the best jockey, but I've got to a stage now that I'm happy with what I've done - at last. "I could never have ridden 4,000 winners without loving my job and If I ever get to the point where I'm not loving it, I'll stop. "But, at this rate, someone might have to tell me when to stop.
"I hope I'll be sensible enough to quit on my own terms, but my biggest problem is that I enjoy it too much. "If I was ever granted one wish it would be to come back as another person and be able to start this all over again. "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."
Mountain Tunes is trained by regular ally Jonjo O'Neill and competes in the green and gold silks of JP McManus, to whom McCoy has been retained for the last nine years.
He said: "I'm always relieved to win and this race might not have been the biggest, richest or best I've ever won, but it was fantastic how it happened - riding a horse in the gold and green silks of JP that is trained by Jonjo O'Neill.
"Doing that means as much to me as the actual number and, not that you can stage-manage these things, I was determined that it was the way it should happen."
