I made over £500,000 as a jockey but got barely anything for myself… I’ve quit at 31 and never felt better

A JOCKEY who enjoyed Group success and banked over £500,000 in prize money has never felt better since quitting the saddle.

Mark Enright secured the biggest win of his career when Aspen Grove won a Group 3 at the Curragh last August for Fozzy Stack.

Just six months later, he shocked the racing world by announcing his retirement on Irish Guineas weekend.

At the age of 31, Enright was seemingly at the peak of his powers and no one expected him to hand in his notice.

Enright’s success came over both jumps and on the Flat, with his biggest win coming in the 2018 Galway Plate aboard Clarcam.

But in a tell-all interview with the Racing Post, it became obvious why Enright was thriving after his shock decision.

He told : “I’ve no regrets. None whatsoever. People keep asking me if I miss it but I really don’t. Not in the slightest. I had planned it for ages.

“The sweating was killing me, absolutely killing me. I’d sweat to get down to 9st, then I’d have a feed the following day, then I’d have to sweat again to get back down to 9st.

“I was never out of the car, and for what? To ride 200-1 shots? If you take away maybe the top seven or eight lads, the rest of them are doing what I was doing every single day.”

Loyalty has been heavily in the spotlight in recent months, especially with Richard Kingscote losing out on the Desert Crown ride on multiple occasions.

It was another reason why leaving the saddle was a decision Enright was more than comfortable with.

He added: “You’d win a nice maiden on a horse and you’d be doing everything right, you’d think you were riding well, and you’d still get taken off when it goes into a Listed or Group race.

“The majority of trainers just take you off them no matter what. That’s when you realise that even if you do find a good horse you’re not going to ride it when it really matters.”

Aspen Grove, the horse that gave Enright his biggest day on the Flat, enjoyed Group 1 success in the US earlier this year.

She soared to victory in the Saratoga Oaks and didn’t disgrace herself in the Saratoga Derby over the weekend.

Enright is out in New York with the filly at the moment and is clearly loving his new found freedom.

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