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After the buzz of dominating jump racing for 20 years, Tony McCoy rode into retirement at Sandown on 25 April 2015 with one burning regret – that his pursuit of a sporting miracle in his final season had been cut cruelly short. Comparing the conclusion of his riveting career with using methadone as a replacement for heroin, the champion jockey was in a sombre mood; “That’s how it feels,” he said of his decision to have one last big fix of racing, rather than riding every day of that final week. “I’m trying to wean myself off it and accept that I’m not a jockey any more. But I don’t really know how I am going to cope when it’s all over.”

The 2010 BBC ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ further added; “As the fella says, time is the enemy of every sportsperson. It always catches up with you and it’s having the bottle to go before then. But it’s hard when you still love it and you’re lucky enough to be successful. It would be so much easier if that was not the case. I still think if I was to change my name I could compete at this level for another three or four years. But it’s about being brave enough to go before the dip.”