Mark Enright: 'I was so miserable that I just needed to get out - it was no life'
The former jockey talks to David Jennings about the reasons behind his shock retirement this year
In the ultimate game of nod and wink, where so many speak from the side of their mouths, Mark Enright has always been a fugitive and he finally escaped from the sport he hated and loved back in May at the tender age of 31.
The retirement was shocking. The news arrived on Irish Guineas weekend at the Curragh, during a season that was going well for him, with ten winners already on the board despite the campaign being in its infancy. Enright had forged good relationships with Fozzy Stack, Ger Lyons and Ger O'Leary and his transition from jumps to Flat was a lot smoother than some who had tried before him.
The decision seemed premature; it turns out it was long overdue.
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Published on inThe Big Read
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Copy- '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'
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'The numbers went in the wrong direction and you're an idiot if you don't think about it - but you back what you're doing'
- 'My wife wants to know why I'm reading the sales catalogue in bed - it's relentless, but you have to be on it all the time'
- 'I know people will say they've heard it all before - but when I see Constitution Hill now, he's suddenly developed quality'
- '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'
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'The numbers went in the wrong direction and you're an idiot if you don't think about it - but you back what you're doing'
- 'My wife wants to know why I'm reading the sales catalogue in bed - it's relentless, but you have to be on it all the time'
- 'I know people will say they've heard it all before - but when I see Constitution Hill now, he's suddenly developed quality'