On our return to the McCoy household, daughter Eve wanted a story. She clearly has her dad wrapped round her little finger and they skipped off together for a bedtime story before AP’s wife, Chanelle, kindly made us cottage pie and broccoli which the champion jockey also tucked into. He would not eat every night, but he did on this Tuesday evening.
McCoy’s obsession for winners, the relentless pursuit of notching up another success – like Casanova with women – is evident to anyone who has spent time with him.
And as yet there is no sense it will end soon, although Chanelle admits with disarming frankness: “When he does retire, it will be like a death in the family.”
But for every McCoy there are jockeys like Conor Quish, combining his stable lad’s work with a few rides here and there.
And there is Sam Thomas, who has known the thrill of winning the Gold Cup on Denman in 2008 and who is now desperate to recapture that feeling.
I spoke to a range of jockeys to hear about travel, diet, sacrifice, money, camaraderie, hopes and dreams; and, of course, injury.
I went to Oaksey House, where injured jockeys receive rehabilitation and wonderful care, to hear from Peter Toole and Isabel Tompsett, who both suffered very serious, near fatal falls.
Their stories are powerful, honest and totally without bitterness
McCoy himself admits he has been lucky to avoid serious injury on occasion.
“From the first day I’ve been riding, I’ve convinced myself I’m unbreakable,” he said. “The amount of times I’ve been in the ambulance it is obviously not true.
“I kind of think I’m like a cat with nine lives sometimes.”
McCoy’s list of injuries is long.
“I’ve broken bones in my ankle, I’ve broken my tibia and fibula, I’ve broken my wrists, I’ve fractured a couple of lower vertebras, I’ve broken both shoulder blades, both my collar bones, my cheekbones and all my teeth are not mine anymore,” he tells me.
“One of the things I’ve said I will do when I do retire, which hopefully won’t be for a while, is I’m going to get myself a new set of teeth.”
Our two-hour special on Tuesday night from 19:30 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live will give you a good sense of what it is like to be part of this quite extraordinary fellowship.