THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JIM CASSIDY

Jimmy Cassidy has retired from racing at the age of 52. He was born in New Zealand to parents with no interest in horses and began riding in 1979 under Kiwi trainer Pat Campbell at Hastings. Cassidy went on to win 104 Group One races during his 36-year career.

BIG WINS:

1981 - Brisbane Cup on Four Crowns (first Group 1 winner)

1983 - Melbourne Cup on Kiwi

1986 - Sydney Cup on Marooned

1990 - Australian Derby on Dr Grace

1997 - Caulfield and Melbourne Cups on Might and Power

1998 - Cox Plate on Might and Power

1998 - Caulfield Cup on Diatribe

2006 - Sydney Cup on County Tyrone

2001 - Golden Slipper on Ha Ha

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

1979 - First on Tarlton in Hastings, New Zealand

1984 - New Zealand Jockey's Premiership

1985/86 - Sydney jockeys' premiership

2001 - Becomes one of seven jockeys to win Australia's "Big Four" races - the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper

2012 - Inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame

LOWLIGHTS

1988 - Disqualified for 12 months for not allowing Cruising to run on its merits. Found guilty on two charges after Cruising ran on late to finish third in a race at Rosehill.

1995 - Disqualified for 21 months over his involvement in the Jockey Tapes scandal. The Australian Federal Police were covertly taping suspected drug dealer Victor Spink when they picked up calls between Spink and several high-profile jockeys.

2009 - Has micro surgery to repair two of his fingers cut in a gardening accident at his Sydney home and missed the spring carnival.

2010 - Banned for three months after the spring carnival for returning a positive swab to a prohibited substance.

FAMOUS QUOTES

* "Ringa, ding, ding, Pumper is King" - said multiple times after his many comebacks.

* "I've never told my side of the story to this day. I'll keep that for my book" - in reference to the jockey tapes scandal.

* "It was one of the most touching moments I've seen. To see a lady rider win the greatest race in the world is something else" - after Michelle Payne won the 2015 Melbourne Cup.

* "Not sure if (owner) Nathan (Tinkler) named that one after me" - on his return to racing aboard a horse called Count Your Fingers after his severed finger injury.

* "I did not try to hold the horse ... I'll bet my daughter and job on it," Cassidy told a stewards' inquiry into his handling of Cruising. "If I wanted to pull the horse up, why would I go to the outside where every Joe Bloggs could see me. All I would have had to do was go to the outside and run up the arse of another runner and make a real meal of it."

* I've been one of the best at it and I've kept enjoying myself and that's what kept me going.

* "I was too small to be an All Black and not smart enough to be a brain surgeon."