TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/920057
FD: I don't think so. After a month without riding this winter I only put on 4lbs. I'm quite an active person. But look, my natural weight is prob- ably 9st 7lbs. I might get to 10st. You just have to look around, jock- eys nowadays are taller and skinni- er, they're not like in my generation, small and stocky. But there has been a lot of progress that way. When I started the minimum weight was 7st 7lbs, now it's 8st; fillies carried 8st and colts 8st 9lbs, now it's 9st and 9st 5lbs. But managing my weight has just been about using common sense, and these days we have help from the Jockeys' Association, we have nutritionists, we know not to have pints and chips any more. TDN: Even though you clearly know how to enjoy yourself, you have managed to keep your weight stable through a long career. Joseph O'Brien gained two stone when he retired. Will that happen to you? FD: I do, yes – but good food tends to be quite good for your weight. It's the rubbish that's bad for you. Every dietician will tell you to have a Medi- terranean diet. FD: Yes. I generally eat fish and chicken, cooked in quite a plain, straightforward way. My wife does the chicken but I usually cook the fish myself, maybe just wrapped in silver foil. Obviously we have a lot of seafood in Sardinia, everything on the grill. I like eel. It's hard to find. In red sauce, put a stick through, so it's the shape of an S, and onto the barbecue. Beautiful. TDN: But as an Italian you do love good food. Doesn't that make it difficult? TDN: You enjoy cooking? Give us a dish to try.