Kim Bailey, who struck up a fruitful partnership with Tony McCoy last summer, said few people know how hard he works behind the scenes to make the most out of every single ride.
The nineteen times champion, who has been relentlessly chasing winners every day since the early nineties, still takes time to study the form of his mounts when he gets home after pounding the motorways for rides up and down the country.
In June last year, McCoy made it eight winners from 11 rides for Bailey when his usual jockey Jason Maguire was sidelined.
The Andoversford handler said McCoy would use every ounce of energy on every occasion: "It was a huge honour to have him ride for me," he said.
"His knowledge is extraordinary as is the time and effort he puts into race reading. Although he's a very busy man he watches the replays of his rides for the next day the night before and treats every one like it's the Gold Cup."
When McCoy hangs up his boots at the end of the season, one of the fondest memories the trainer will treasure is how he was the only jockey to get one of his horses home in front: "How AP McCoy managed to get Able Deputy to win again at Worcester lord only knows," he told his newsletter last September.
And win they did four times, in a golden summer period for the Bailey stable.
A few months later however, an on track tumble left McCoy with a dislocated my collar bone, two broken ribs and a punctured lung.
The ironman returned after just three days because he was pursuing 300 winners, but another fall jarred his injuries which led to him having three weeks off.
"Pain doesn't come into his life. He doesn't do painkillers, he doesn't do pain. His body has had a real battering," said Bailey.
"I hope he gets to the end of the season in one piece. We will not see another one like him, he's quite unique.
"Saturday was not a sad day for racing because you have to stand back and applaud what he has done for racing, he's been a real ambassador for the sport.
"What he has done is a brave move, he has let everyone know where they are in good time and you can't have such conversations behind the scenes without it getting out.
"Twenty championships is a remarkable feat and I think it is the right time for him to go.
""His sheer determination to win, over all those years, has set him apart from others."
