Cheltenham pundit Fran Berry: ‘I’ve gained two stone since I stopped racing’
Three days after retiring from the sport, Fran Berry was doing punditry on Racing TV. Picture: Healy Racing
When Fran Berry was forced to retire from the saddle after a career-ending fall in 2019, friends and colleagues were quick to assure him he would find success in whatever path he chose to chase next.
That new career started the very same week as his 23 years as a successful jockey came to a close.
“I retired on the Monday and went straight into punditry on the Thursday,” he says with a laugh.
“It was quick,” he says, adding it was a learning experience critiquing those he’d been competing with just weeks ago.
Three years on, he’s more settled in his new role in the racing world — and two stone heavier.
“I am a normal, healthy weight now,” the 41-year-old father-of-two says.
"I used to ride at 8st 10/11lbs. At 5ft 8ins that was hard to maintain. It was a constant pressure,” he says.
“If you took a few days off, by day three all you were thinking about was ‘how will I get back to that weight?
"After 23 years, I was conditioned to it, but when you stop going, you realise how all-in it was.
"Now, I am a normal, healthy-ish human being — rather than somebody way below the average weight.”
- Fran Berry will be a Paddy Power panelist at the Cheltenham Bunker in The Camden on March 17 and 18.
I try to get out for a walk every morning as soon as it's bright. When I stopped riding, I just didn't bother [with exercise] for a while, but I have the remnants of a home gym from my old riding days, so I am starting to get back into that now too. There's racing most days in Ireland so after that I’ll try and get a bit of form study done. Then it’s the school run.
A good breakfast. Mostly eggs, but I’ve incorporated granola and yogurt recently. If I have a good breakfast, it sets me up for the day.
Chocolate. Especially a Dairy Milk Mint Crisp or Kinder Bueno.
I am not a great sleeper. I am on the phone and the computer a lot, maybe that contributes but I’ve never been a great sleeper.
After about ten years, I started playing golf again last summer. My son is seven now and he comes to the driving range and plays a few holes with me, or I go with friends. Playing nine holes for two hours really allows you to switch off - and the phone goes into the bag.
Mick Kinane. He was a trailblazer., and he really put Irish jockeys on the world map. And my late friend Pat Smullen. We travelled a lot together; he was one of my closest friends. How he faced his pancreatic cancer diagnosis and the energy he put into raising over €3m for the future of cancer research while battling his own terminal illness was unbelievable.
Coffee in the morning.
Looking at the news from Ukraine. I just can’t get my head around it. It’s very upsetting to see what’s happening in this day and age, just a three-hour flight from home.
Negativity.
Impatience. Definitely. I’ve gotten better with age, but I need to have more.
Yes, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all.
Workwise, if the day is going well and you’ve ticked off a few winners. You get a great kick out of that. And coming home to the kids, whether I’ve had a good day or a bad day, I don’t care when I get home to them.
Health is wealth and keep turning up.
My home in Kilcullen. I am lucky I’ve been able to travel a lot, in this job and when I was riding. Since I came home from England three years ago though, I just really appreciate it. I think the more you go away, the more you appreciate home.
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