Richard Pitman: 'The thrills I had going around there, money could not buy'
Lewis Porteous talks to the man who partnered Pendil, Bula and Crisp
What are you most looking forward to in 2022?
Staying healthy and fit. I will be 79 this month and I want to ride schooling over fences on my 80th birthday in January 2023. I did it on my 75th birthday in Lambourn and loved it, so I'm going to do it when I'm 80. I want to stay fit and healthy to get to that mark.
What was your big break in the sport?
I went four years and 60 rides without riding a single winner before I joined Fred Winter in 1964 when he started training. He had only six horses the day I joined him, but he was always going to do well because he was a man with such strength of character and him agreeing to take me on was my break.
He was still riding when I asked if I could join him and he said: "Yes, you're honest and horses jump better for you than most people. If you keep those two attributes you'll do well with me. You'll never be champion jockey but you'll do me and I'll put up with that."
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- 'I don't want to be part of this narrative that Irish trainers are better than us - I think that's rubbish, it drives me nuts'
- 'I don't even know what day of the week it is - I'd love a day off but racing is so relentless that you can't do it'
- 'I didn't realise how famous he was!' - meet the grandson of a sporting legend now transforming a famous old yard
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'I've invested quite a lot of money and I'm going to give it a proper go' - meet the drinks tycoon determined to make his mark