Sir Anthony McCoy has hailed the achievements of Jim Crowley following his retirement from the saddle and believes he has what it takes to carve out a successful career as a trainer.
The Group One-winning rider called time on his successful career before racing on the final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival after admitting defeat in his battle to get back to full fitness from a fall at York 11 months ago which left him with pelvic and leg fractures.
Starting off as a jump jockey, Crowley, 48, switched his allegiances to the Flat in 2006, where he would be crowned champion jockey in 2016, the same year he was appointed number one rider to the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell operation.
In his time in that role Crowley enjoyed numerous Group One triumphs on the likes of Baaeed, Battaash, Hukum and Minzaal, while outside of those in the famous blue and white silks he also celebrated top level success on the likes of Ulysses and Here Comes When.
And having watched his former weighing room colleague taste glory in many of the biggest races on the Flat, the now retired Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider had nothing but praise for his decision.
McCoy said: “He rode quite a few winners over jumps, and did really well, but he had a brilliant career.
"It is hard to go from being a jump jockey to a Flat jockey as they are two different disciplines. To be champion jockey on the Flat was an amazing achievement and he achieved an awful lot before that fall at York. He has had an amazing career and he should be very proud of it.
"You have got to put things into perspective. George Baker and I brought Graham Lee down to dinner last night, and Jim is able to walk away from having a very similar career and a very similar path. It could have been a lot worse at York, but it wasn’t.
"As much as he would love to come back once you think about it then it's on your mind and I wouldn’t look at him and say you shouldn’t have done that."
However, while hailing the career of Crowley, the 20-time National Hunt jockey admits that it will have been a tough decision to make having also gone through those same emotions when calling time on his own career.
McCoy said: "It will have been a hard decision to make because although he had a bad fall he is reasonably healthy now, and he got to a point where he thought about coming back.
"I suppose the one thing that doesn’t wait for anyone, especially in sport, is time. You have got to know the time when to call it a day, and that is a hard thing to do in sport as you have done something you have grown up wanting to do all your life and that you have loved.
"Life will be different now because you have such a structured and disciplined life as a jockey, and it is not really work.
"It will be hard as he will never go inside the weighing room anymore and see the lads, not just the jockeys, but the valets and people like that as you speak to them every day as they are more part of your life as they look after you. It is the little things like that will be different for him."
But while McCoy, who retired from the saddle in 2015, feels that Crowley will make a good fist of his new career once granted his licence to train he admits it will be a different life to the one that he enjoyed as a jockey.
He added: "Who knows how he will get on as a trainer as they are very different disciplines. As a jockey you are relying on yourself, but when you are a trainer you are reliant on other people.
"As a jockey you have to perform for the trainers and owners you are riding for, but as a trainer you have to deal with staff, and you have to realise that everyone won’t be like you.
"They might not have the work ethic, same appetite or ambition, but that is what you have to accept in life. I’m sure he will be a very good trainer, but it will be very different."
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.al
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
