Tony McCoy: how Martin Pipe turned me into a record-breaking 'robot'

Tony McCoy has credited Martin Pipe for instilling an obsession that drove him to become 20-time champion jockey and the first jump jockey to ride 4,000 winners.

McCoy was talking to the Racing Post for a special interview in Sunday's newspaper in which he became the latest racing legend, following Paul Nicholls, to allow us to delve inside his mind and explore what set him apart.

Analysing his mentality from his time as a young rider finding his feet with Jim Bolger to the day he retired in 2015, McCoy said: "Martin turned me into a robot but in the best possible way. I wouldn't have broken any of those records if it wasn't for him, because he made my mind need to do it."

McCoy had already won his first jockeys' championship – and turned down one job offer from Pipe – when he realised that, in order to minimise the risk of losing his title, he would need to join forces with the man who was rewriting the record books as a trainer at that time.

"What I liked most about him was that he was obsessed with winning, the same as me, probably more so," said McCoy. "It was for other people to decide if his obsession was healthy, but I could understand why you'd want to make yourself better all the time, why you'd want to make your horses run faster and beat people more. It's all about having a purpose and making the most of that purpose, getting everything out of your career that you can.

"I learned a lot of things there that helped me get an edge – things that sound simple now but which had never really been done before. What I learned from him was detail and information, knowing everything you could, analysing what you knew, going out in a race knowing you had everything, every horse, covered. Everything had to be documented for him. I wouldn't have thought of doing it but it made sense."

McCoy maintained that mindset throughout his career even after leaving Pipe to ride for JP McManus, albeit at some personal cost.

He added: "Even when I left him to go and ride for JP, I never really thought I had delivered, or was any good at my job, until after I won the Gold Cup for him on Synchronised [in 2012]. I'd say that's when I first really felt fulfilment, because that's what I was employed to do."

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Read Inside the mind of Tony McCoy in the Big Read, available to members from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.