'I threw myself down and cried my eyes out' - inside the mind of AP McCoy

This article was originally published in January 2021. It has been republished for subscribers to mark the launch of Members' Club content on the Racing Post app.

AP McCoy isn't necessarily talking about himself, but if the cap fits ... "You look at the elite sportspeople, they've all got a madness inside them. They've all got a psychopathic switch that means you'd die for it rather than fail."

The 20-time champion jockey – the man now known, although not by his friends, as Sir Anthony – emerged relatively unscathed from his remarkable career, but along the way he astonished us with his unflinching devotion to the cause of victory, seemingly never content with his utter dominance.