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IAN McKIE: pictured riding Man Of Europe

Ian McKie is the latest subject for our Former Riders profile series.

Ian was twice champion jockey, sharing the title with David Turner in 1980 and winning outright the following year. In the summer he is much in demand as a Judge at hound and puppy shows and also of show Hunter and Retraining of Racehorses classes. His wife Tocky, who officiates as a Point-to-Point steward, was herself a very successful Point-to-Point rider.

Where are you based? Tocky and I now live at Lanton in North Northumberland. We moved from Buckingham eight years ago with the children (Jessica, who's now 20 and Rosie, 17), dogs, horses and ponies, and most of the farm animals. We have a wonderful farm at the foot of the Cheviot Hills and are enjoying every minute of it.

For how many years did you ride, & how many winners did you partner? I rode for 17 seasons and have had too many bangs on the head to remember the exact number myself, but according to the Mackenzie & Harris annual it was 112 Point-to-Point winners. I also rode about 35 under Rules.

Why did you retire from race-riding? I well remember. It was the day of the Heythrop Point-to-Point and I was doing some fence repairs in the fields that morning. I was very content with my sheepdog and my hammer and nails; it crossed my mind that I would rather stay and finish the fencing than go racing. I thought, "McKie, if you are having impure thoughts like that, it's time to give up."

I rode at the Heythrop and then rode a winner at Kingston Blount a week later, then that was it - there was no denying there was a little tear when I dismounted. I don't think I had lost my nerve or anything, but life was beginning to change a little. I had started to hunt a pack of hounds, we had two small children and I was enjoying the farming. All of which took a lot of time and concentration, as well as Tocky training a small string of National Hunt horses.

What is your job or profession? I like to call myself a farmer. I am not a real farmer, as I never went to college and everything I have ever learned has been trial and error - and there's been lots of that! But we have 2,500 acres to look after, half arable and half grass. It's a big responsibility but great fun. I am also fortunate to hunt the College Valley hounds three days a week.

First winner - name the horse, Owner & Trainer, the date & the course: Phanwell, owned by Patrick McCanlis and trained by Christopher Sweeting, in a Lingfield Park Hunter Chase in February 1976.

I was substituting for David Tatlow, who would have ridden it had he not been unwell. I can recall that the journey down there seemed to take for ever - it was in the days before the M25 - and I felt really sick by the time we arrived!

Apart from the first winner, what was your most memorable ride? It was at the Cheltenham Hunter Chase evening meeting in 1978. I had just started to ride a few Pointers for Tocky Sumner, and one of them, Man Of Europe, was being talked of a little amongst those who know. Peter Greenall (now Lord Daresbury) was the man to beat in those days, not unlike all his sons are now; he was riding a hotpot trained by Arthur Stephenson called Byzantium. At the time, Man Of Europe was considered a relative novice, as was I, so to take on last season's top Hunter Chaser and champion Amateur Rider was a bold shout. I jumped the last half a length down, landed in front and won cosily, with Greenall absolutely furious.

Peter brought competitive riding to a new level and this was the first of several encounters we were to enjoy. He was, and arguably still is, the worst loser I have ever met!

Of which horses do you have particularly fond memories? Man Of Europe, of course. He was high class, quality, with a turn of foot and fast away from a fence. He taught me to ride a race, to be patient and sit still, which is very difficult when you are young and want to win on everything you get on. I had ridden some very good horses both before and after him, but never anything quite like him. He was difficult to train - like a lot of good ones - and eventually started breaking, so never fulfilled what might have been. He could have won Badminton or a Gold Cup, but there was no disputing he was the best horse in the country to ride behind a pack of hounds.

Nostradamus (pictured, ridden by Ian, on the right with eventual third Ballytartar and John Dufosee at Heythrop - photograph by J.R. & C.J. Corsan, taken from 1982 Annual) was the next Sumner star to hit the bright lights in the Point-to-Point world. He won 18 Points and two Hunter Chases. You could run him every week - he only just did enough to win and no more. He would never die for you, but the opposition never could tell how well you were travelling and because of this he was to undo Peter Greenall (to his great fury!) on more than one occasion.

Risk A Bet was an enigma. He belonged to our great friend Angie Murray and was the cause of more heartache than any horse I know, being extremely talented but almost impossible as a young horse. Foxhunting was the cure to clearing the fog from his mind and it wasn't long before we could begin to enjoy his full range of talent. He won several Hunter Chases, including at Cheltenham over 2m and 3m2f, plus some Point-to-Points, but sadly breathing problems curtailed his career. He was retired to the hunting field, which he adored; on that note, I hunted hounds off all three of these horses and I could never wish to sit on better.

What do you miss about no longer riding? Winning! Hunting a pack of hounds is competitive but it's not quite like winning. I miss the feeling of asking the horse for everything and it giving everything. I still enjoy riding work on occasion, but it is not the same as riding to the second last with a shout. I miss those nervous mornings going to the sports with a couple of fancied rides - and the journey home having pulled it off.

Which were your favourite courses? Mollington was our home track at the Bicester; I doubt none better in the country when the meeting was run in its pomp. Fair but tough - a horse needed stamina and courage and a jockey needed intelligence and nerve. It is so sad the course no longer exists as it has taken with it many stories and much nostalgia.

Kingston Blount is not every Rider's idea of a good time but I certainly had some fun there. It's rather unique with a steep hill section which caused many a first-time jockey a premature visit to the facilities immediately after the experience! But it is a track that benefits enormously from knowing and learning; winners can be had there through horsemanship and race craft.

Although I have never ridden there, Ratcheugh [Alnwick], our local track, appears the sort of course you can ride a race round - pinch a length here and there and come with a run three out. There's a very efficient and hard-working team looking after it now and we are lucky to have such a good course.

Which particular horse would you like to ride in a race now? Riding in a lot of Point-to-Points you get quite used to three mile pace and timing. On the odd occasion I rode over shorter trips the race seemed almost over before I could get my eye in, so if I had the chance to ride one horse now it would have to be a three-miler, Denman. Mind you, the speed he travels, I would be finding the buckle on him!

What car do you drive? A Land Rover - I am useless with cars.

Name your perfect night in & perfect night out: In is after a good day with hounds, feeling slightly tired, thirsty and a little hungry and settling down in front of the box watching the day's racing on Sky Plus with a steak and chips and a bottle of fine wine.

Perhaps that's a little selfish, so in the summer I like to light the barbeque down by the river and with Tocky, the girls and some friends enjoy the chat and the gas about eventing, horses, hounds, farming and the old days.

I am not a great partygoer these days and you don't move to North Northumberland for the bright lights, but on occasion I can manage to surprise the wife and myself with a visit to London and an evening on the tiles.

Where do you like to go on holiday? We don't seem to have much time these days as most weekends - and for that matter most weeks - in the summer are spent on the road eventing with the girls; winter is a no-no anyway because of hunting commitments. When we do get the chance, an old favourite is the villa in Majorca - nice and easy to get to, not too expensive and great fun. I love the sea and can spend all day sailing and most of the evening in the bar.

What's your favourite kind of music? Tocky goes mad sometimes at my choice of music. The CDs in the car vary from Frank Sinatra to Led Zeppelin and Classical to Meat Loaf. I don't do Hip Hop but enjoy some of the new stuff such as Lady Gaga and the Machine, as we have to have Radio One when the girls are with us. Rosie sorts out my iPod - she does a great job most of the time but then puts some rubbish on just to wind me up.

What are your favourite films and TV programmes? I love a good Western and have seen most of them over the years. Drama I can sit through, documentaries I can get into and sport I enjoy, but I don't do soaps, reality TV or game shows.

Are you still involved with Point-to-Pointing in any way? We have one or two home-bred youngsters who might have a run at some stage. They seem a bit steady at the moment but time will tell if they have any ability. I am also on the MFHA sub-committee for Point-to-Pointing, which has been particularly interesting of late.

What has been your own funniest incident, or the most amusing thing you have seen or heard at the races? In the early days I was riding at one of those wonderful Herefordshire tracks against a great character called Bob Woolley. There was a pile-up two out, with several of us on the floor in a good muddle; some, including Bob, remounted. Bob went on to win the race, but the self-adulation in the winner's enclosure came to an abrupt halt when someone told him he was on the wrong horse.

Some of the Kingston Blount stories involving Col Clerke Brown were legendary. The Colonel, understandably, ran the meeting with military precision and never missed an opportunity to get his hands on the microphone in order to remind mere mortals of their place.

One that always makes me giggle was when he let forth over the loudspeaker that a black dog was on the course - he then spent several minutes explaining what he was going to do to the owner when he was found. When the dog was eventually retrieved a very brave official, after a large drink, had to explain to the Colonel that the name and address of the owner on the dog-tag was indeed that of one Col Clerke Brown of Kingston House.

Who were (or still are) your biggest heroes in racing? There are so many Trainers, Jockeys, Owners and horses over the years it is hard to single out any one, or even three or four or ten or twenty.

I suppose, professionally, John Francome was to re-write the manual on riding a National Hunt horse. His skill is well documented and he set the bar to new heights. Timing, presentation, delivery, he transformed it from guesswork into an art - he made horse racing cool. Arguably at the moment we are witnessing the best era of NH jockeys ever. They are perhaps stronger than Francome was, maybe fitter, even more complete, but they all have him to thank for elevating them to that level and they know it.

In some ways Martin Pipe had a similar impact in the training world. The old-school Trainers did not know how to respond to Martin's astonishing results; how dare he get horses to run like that! Controversial he may have been, successful he surely was. Veterinary science, interval training, the source of his horse power, he was thinking outside the box to such a degree that almost every Trainer in the country, flat and jumping, now operates off the Pipe blueprint.

Who do you consider to be the most promising young riders in Pointing today? I have been out of the game for so long I simply have no idea. I loved watching Sam Twiston-Davies ride in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham last year - he was only 17 and never missed a kick, much more skilful than his father ever was. No doubt he will be joining the pro ranks soon, but when he is champion jockey Point-to-Pointing can claim part of him.

The Greenall boys are something else - talented, stylish, intelligent - but if all four of them, plus their father, went to the last upsides, my money would still be on the old man. Point-to-Pointing has always been a nursery for the National Hunt world for horses, Trainers and Jockeys and long may that continue.

What are the biggest changes you have seen in the sport over the years, & are there any others you would like to see brought in? The Point-to-Point Review and the Russell Report have brought about huge change. It is fair to say the MFHA took their eye off the ball a little during the years leading up to the hunting ban - understandably - and with the Jockey Club being engulfed by the BHA we were beginning to lose friends in high places, so something had to be done.

The Secretaries' Association becoming autonomous was perhaps the biggest hurdle to cross as far as the MFHA was concerned. I have to say that Stephen Lambert (MFHA Chairman) did a remarkable job in persuading the non-believers in the MFHA that the Point-to-Point Authority was the way forward, as many were convinced we were divorcing Point-to-Pointing from hunting. Hunting has only ever been responsible for Riders' qualification certificates, Hunter Certificates and for holding a meeting, all of which remains the case. The Point-to-Point Board is well-structured and ensures that everyone involved in the game is in the loop and has a voice, which has to be right.

I am, however, a little concerned that we need to keep an eye on the purse strings. Costs can easily creep and no matter how you dress it up this one always falls back on the Owner. Some smaller Hunts really struggle to put on a meeting due to the expense, lack of sponsorship, shortage of volunteer help within the country, too much red tape, and in particular because of the vast workload by Hunts for often little, if indeed any, financial reward. This is something the sport and the Board need to consider very seriously, as some courses will gradually deteriorate and ultimately close.

I do think this can be addressed on an Area basis, but trying to get profitable organisations to subsidise less successful ones has never been good business practice.

My only plea to the Board is please don't invent change for change's sake, or rules that become superfluous, just because you have the power and an office. We really have all had enough for now and just want to get on and have some fun, despite what the HSE [Health & Safety Executive] has to say. So let's hope we can beat the recession, foxhunting can be repealed and Point-to-Pointing can flourish.

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