'There are going to be an awful lot of people who will feel the pain of this'
Richard Forristal speaks to Mick Fitzgerald ahead of his 50th birthday
Lockdown has necessitated a renewed appreciation for life’s simple pleasures and created an enforced opportunity to reflect on what good fortune we might have. Everyone’s perspective is different, and at this stage patience is inevitably starting to wear thin, but we’ve all encountered the odd woke moment along the way.
Mick Fitzgerald is no different. He has spent more quality time with his three kids, tutored the two that ride on their ponies, cranked up the domestic maintenance efforts and drunk in the lush serenity of being so close to nature at his eight-acre home in Lambourn.
The man known to most racing fans simply as Fitzy has always been inclined to savour the finer things in life. After all, this is the guy who for years tormented his weigh room colleagues with classical music on the way to and from the races.
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- It's been a quarter of a century since we started - here's how we've seen the sport we love change
- 'You can see why people end up struggling - when you're trying to pay the electric bill, losing one ride can be massive'
- 'I've never paid six figures for a horse and never will - I learned pretty quickly you're only one phone call away from f*** all'
- 'I’ve trained some fabulous horses, worked with some excellent riders - maybe I have brought a little bit of talent to the table as well'
- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’