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I hope to be remembered as a very good jockey.

At first I wanted to be a jockey. I rode horses in Cleveland but I kept falling off and I was afraid of horses. So there wasn't much of a future in it.

I can't wait to work with Peter Capaldi as the next 'Doctor.' I know him from old; he's such a lovely man and will be brilliant in the role. As long as he tones down the Malcolm Tucker swearing.

There are many tough sides to being a jockey. Injury is something we all dread, but spending lengthy periods in the bath or the sauna just to shed a few pounds can be an exhausting and draining experience.

I bought a racehorse, Tropical Saint, that belonged to the Queen Mother. I used to go down to Banbury and watch him train, but during a televised race, his jockey pulled up and said there was something wrong. They put him in the grass to try and settle him but found him dead in the field.

A good jockey has to be physically well balanced. They have to possess a strong upper body and a strong lower body. You've gotta have quick reflexes, and you've got to be incredibly coordinated. But it's you're instincts that have to be perfect. You can't be an exceptional rider without instincts.

I never had a written contract, was never officially a stable jockey.

I'm not a betting woman, but I have $50 on Secretariat with an old director friend of mine.

Acting is something that I always wanted, but I never paid attention to the notion that it might actually work out. You have all sorts of ideas about what you want to do - at one stage, I wanted to be a jockey - but this is the one that's a big deal.

When you're a young actor, there's this pressure to rush. But I hope to be doing this into my sixties and seventies, so I'd prefer to take my time.