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You are here: Home / Archives for Tony McCoy

AP McCoy – The Greatest Jockey Ever

July 15, 2015 by John Hawthorne Leave a Comment

AP McCoy – The Greatest Jockey Ever

In many parts of Europe, horse racing is one of the most popular forms of gambling and entertainment. In the UK, it’s not unusual for someone to pick up a Racing Post and head out to jump racing at tracks like Cheltenham, Newbury and Kempton. While National Hunt racing fails to hit the mark in Asia and North America, it has maintained popularity and a rich history is the United Kingdom. It doesn’t take a great historian to realize that Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974) is the best jumps jockey there ever was and perhaps there will ever be. During a race career that spanned more than 23 years, he holds every relevant record for a jump jockey in the UK. He has won every major race at least once and has ridden horses trained by almost every relevant trainer in the last twenty years. He has guided champions and just for good measure, he won nine flat races just to prove he wasn’t a “one-trick pony.” The Records Sports fans and experts would be hard-pressed to find any athlete who has dominated their sport the way AP McCoy has dominated National Hunt racing in the UK and Ireland. During his amazing race career, he established the following records that may never be broken.

  • Most National Hunt Wins in a Season (289 in 2001/02) – breaking the record for jump or flat racing in Britain that was formerly held by Sir Gordon Richards, a record that stood ever since 1947.
  • Most consecutive riding titles (20 from 1995/96 to 2014/15) – smashed the record of 7 straight titles formerly held by Peter Scudamore.
  • Most Career Wins by a Jumps Jockey (4,348) – Broke the record by Richard Dunwoody on 27 August, 2002.
  • Fastest Jockey to Reach the 100 Winner Mark During a season – This occurred during that remarkable 2001/02 season.
  • Most Seasons with Over 150 Wins (19)

The Races Given his status as the top jump jockey of all-time, McCoy had the opportunity to ride for some of the best trainers in the land, which put him on the backs of many great horses. While he has won pretty much every relevant race in the UK, but the one his is most proud of is his 2010 UK Grand National win aboard Don’t Push It. The horse was trained by Jonjo O’Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus. After 15 attempts at Britain’s most biggest National Hunt race, he finally broke through, putting the cap on the top of a incredible racing career. Other major races claimed by McCoy include the Irish Grand National in 2007 with Butler’s Cabin, the Midlands Grand National and the Welsh National in 2010 aboard the incomparable Synchronised, the Scottish Grand National in 1997 aboard Belmont King, Cheltenham Gold Cup (2 times) with Mr Mulligan in 1997 and Synchronised in 2012, and the King George VI Chase in 2002 aboard Best Mate. Of course, there were hundreds of other great wins throughout his career. The Honours As one of the most celebrated jockeys in Britain, McCoy was the winner of several important honours during his career. They included BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010, RTE Sports Person of the Year in 2013, Conditional Jockey of the Year in 1995 and Jump Jockey of the Year from 1996-2004 and 2006-2012. If you are interested in going racing or having a bet on jump races held in the UK, there are several great tracks with racecourse bookies plus there are online bookmakers too that provide form guides along with the opportunity to place wagers. This article was written by John Hawthorne who is a big fan of horseracing in the U.K and abroad. His interest in equine sports and his passion for writing has led to a professional writing career. He currently writes for an Australian based horse racing website.

Filed Under: AP McCoy Tagged With: jockey, Jump Racing, McCoy, national hunt, Tony McCoy

Farewell Clan Royal

September 17, 2013 by Adam Webb 2 Comments

For those like myself who are an avid fan of the unique challenge that the Grand National course offers to horses and riders, I am sure you were very sad to hear the news that the former Aintree stalwart Clan Royal has died aged 18 at JP McManus’s Martinstown Stud due to old age. Originally bred in France, he was trained in Ireland by Arthur Moore with some success which included a maiden hurdle and two chase victories. In 2002 he came over to England to be trained by Jonjo O’Neill with his debut run for the stable highlighting one of his big characteristics which was his free-going running style. This showcased the fact that he pulled like a train through his races and his riders had a hard job to settle him. Before his first trip to Aintree for the Topham in 2003, I was lucky enough to witness his last win over regular park fences at Newbury where he was probably slightly fortunate as the favourite Jasmin Guichois fell at the last. About an hour earlier on that same card, the Andrew Balding trained Gunner Welburn had won his Grand National prep in the feature three mile handicap chase in convincing style. Nobody in that Newbury crowd would have foreseen that the winner of the less competitive two and a half mile chase would have such an impact on the world’s greatest steeplechase. Fast forward four weeks and Clan Royal was a fancied 12/1 to run well off a light weight of 10-2 under Liam Cooper, a very capable jockey on his day. Jumping off just behind the leaders, you could see that he instantly revelled in this new challenge especially at the Chair where he stood off a mile and somehow cleared it. Some of the leaps on the way round showed that the demands had obviously given him a new lease of life with the manner of his style around the course. The confidence Cooper had in his mount was shown at Valentines and the fence after, with him taking lengths out of the field. Although, his enthusiasm at some points did have punters having heart in mouth moments with his exuberance especially with a mistake at the Foinavon fence. To test whether he could become a Grand National horse, connections decided the Becher Chase would be the ideal target. The race itself has been described by some as probably the best renewal and it’s hard not to see why. Fifteen set out for three miles three furlongs over 21 of Aintree’s daunting fences (The Chair was omitted due to the low lying sun) and only four finished in a race full of carnage. Initially, Clan Royal was held up by Cooper to get the trip. However by half distance, his jumping and general keenness had taken him to the front at Becher’s. He was left in front when Bindaree fell at Valentines but then was involved in a titanic battle up the home straight with the Ginger McCain trained Amberleigh House with Clar Royal showing tremendous battling qualities to just get up on the line. This confirmed him as a National possible with Bet Victor giving a 33/1 quote for the unlikely treble of Topham/Becher/National. On 3 April 2004 Clan Royal was sent off 10/1 co favourite of four for the National with stable mate Joss Naylor, Jurancon II and Bindaree. Liam Cooper was in no hurry early on with him being held up on the inside. He missed the melee on the outside of him at Becher’s first time although he was lucky himself not to fall as he landed steeply and almost lost his footing but Cooper picked him up from the floor and they carried on as if nothing had happened. For the rest of the first circuit, he travelled strongly into a prominent position with his fast accurate jumping. Going down to Becher’s second time, he began to tank along with his jockey trying to restrain him but however hard he tried, the horse’s exuberance would keep pushing him forward to join Hedgehunter who had forced an almost suicidal pace from the outset. A pivotal moment was five fences from home where Cooper dropped his whip after Clan Royal jumped the fence too low. It has been said that this cost Clan Royal the race; after the final fence when he nearly veered onto the Mildmay course due to his tiredness although to be fair to Liam Cooper, Amberleigh House flew home from a mile back to give Ginger McCain his fourth and last National after the three triumphs from Red Rum in the 1970s. Fast forward twelve months. A few things had changed with Liam Cooper announcing his retirement and JP McManus retaining Tony McCoy. Also of note that jumps season was the virus that hit O’Neill’s yard, so it was a testament to him to get Clan Royal to Aintree in tip top condition with only one appearance during the season. Unlike the previous year, the pace in the race was a sedate one which didn’t help the horse or rider in the slightest, with McCoy attempting throughout to settle him to no avail. He was in front by The Chair and set off out into the country in a similar fashion to the previous year. Arriving at Becher’s, he was confronted with two riderless horses that proceeded to run in front of the fence with the second of those Take The Stand taking him out of the race. Whether he would have won remains questionable as Hedgehunter was an impressive winner plus with him being so keen, a similar outcome to the previous year would have been likely. The following season saw Clan Royal more active with several racecourse appearances. Kept over hurdles again to protect his chase mark, he won his final start before Aintree at Market Rasen and at one stage looked likely to go off the shortest price favourite for the National in a long time. But his old rival Hedgehunter ran one of the best races of his career to be second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup behind War Of Attrition and they shared favouritism on the day as 5/1 joint favourites. To keep him calmer than in previous years, the use of earplugs helped him settle much better but when Ross Comm caused a false start by having his head over the tape, some of that preparation was wasted. In saying that, he did travel much more kindly through the race until a shocking mistake at the nineteenth fence from which both horse and rider did well to recover. Crossing the Melling Road he still had a chance but was outstayed by both Hedgehunter and the winner Numbersixvalverde. The costly mistake at the ditch left him with a cut on his stomach but connections felt their best chance of victory in the great race had slipped away from them. In his final season he was a shadow of his former self. He finished down the field in his prep run for the Becher Chase before taking an uncharacteristic fall at the first fence. A disappointing run in the Silver Cup gave connections the idea to send him hunting with JT McNamara, to freshen him up for one last bid at the Grand National. In 2007 he jumped round safely under JT to finish eleventh with Clan Royal being retired after the race. My generation have been blessed with some excellent Grand National horses with the likes of Amberleigh House, Hedgehunter, Comply Or Die and State Of Play who consistently ran their races around the course they loved. Although he never won the Grand National, one could argue that with some better luck he could have possibly been a dual winner of the race, but Clan Royal will always have a place in my memory with his enthusiasm for those special fences that I don’t believe has been matched by any other horse in my lifetime. RIP Clan Royal 1995 – 2013.

Filed Under: News, Review Tagged With: aintree, Becher Chase, Clan Royal, grand national, Jonjo O'Neill, Tony McCoy

Cheltenham Festival – Post Mortem from a leading layer

March 20, 2013 by Geoff Banks 9 Comments

Cheltenham Festival – Post Mortem from a leading layer

Bankers. We used to count the banker material in the car with my Dad on the way down to Cheltenham. It was our benchmark to success at the meeting. And that was the word- success, because losing at the Festival was a non runner for Bookies such as John Banks. The environment has changed. I don’t use betting exchanges to price up my book, I value opinion over trading between Bots and the numpties. I’m very much in the minority. Modern day Bookmakers can’t see past exchanges, trading every penny they take, offering a very poor service to the customer, which starts with uniformity of odds. We have to thank Rob Hughes, casting vote chairman of the Levy Board for introducing exchanges to rings – now decimated. Bookies have become their own worst enemy. Me? I expect to win by taking the aggressive line. No, I didn’t offer ten pound bets on Sprinter Sacre at Evens, but then I’m not running a casino. I don’t study a yard of form pre-festival. It clouds my plans. If I sat up all night studying form, I’d surely end up with the same book of hotpots as the punters do. Dynaste, Quevega, Hurricane Fly, Bobs Worth and Simonsig. My job is to get them beat. Tuesday rolls in, starting well for the Books, with the hard pulling My Tent Or Yours looking assured for victory, outbattled by Champagne Fever. Last year we started poorly and never looked back. This year was more muddled. Wins for Simonsig, Hurricane Fly and Quevega placed the straight bat layers behind the 8 ball. We lost- solidly. The bright spot? Handicaps. Result after result all week penned the punters back.. Wednesday, gloomy lot of Bookies clutched defeat from the jaws of victory in the first, with Back In Front rallying. Groans and queues around the Centaur for payouts. I employ 3 people to just pay out the cash, which by nature is more time consuming than accepting a bet – it wasn’t enough! The office rang – running up bets onto Irish wonderhorse- Pont Alexandre in the next. This from multiple bets onto Back In Focus and yesterdays ‘heroes’. How much do we have it for I ask? ‘Don’t ask’, says my senior trader, we’re behind the sofa in here. Talking horse-not wonderhorse. And it kicks off panic with the punters. They barely scrape a return in another race for two days. Who cares about Sprinter Sacre? Not the Bookies-they ignore him. Ooh aaah, well done, move on. Round after round to the Bookies continued through Thursday. Had you asked me to write down my own set of results, I couldn’t have penned a better set of results. It was embarrassing, – well almost embarrassing. Thursday night we celebrated, care of the Richard Power firm in Cheltenham. Smiles all round and stories of derring do and how what looked on paper a punters festival, had turned so much to us. We were well in front. Friday. Hmmm. I remember thinking I would coast round, secure that even if the results were similar to Tuesday, we couldn’t finish behind on the meeting now. That’s not to say I intended backing off and hogging the pot. Oh No! not my way at all. I’m too daft to do that..Punters on the ropes and down. I was going to put my heel gently on their necks. Hard to remember a thought proven more wrong, as result after calamitous result ensued. The worst of which for me was Salsify in the Foxhunters. Backed in from 9/2 long term to 2/1. It was a catastrophe. It’s fair to say I was totally stunned at the manner of his victory. Iiterally speechless at the turn of events- and the noise in the Centaur was unbelievable! It didn’t surprise me to watch McCoy boot home the last favourite home. I was numb. The punters deserved their day. How much did the Festival cost the firms? Well, my firm lost double on Friday what it had reaped on Wednesday and Thursday. Those are traditionally quieter betting days. I’m not crying, I have a track record of winning long term. Overall, the Cheltenham bash cost the Bookies big time. More with the large offshore concerns, who outdid each other with one moronic offer after another. These days they seem to treat the whole event as an opportunity to pad their online products with lovely names and addresses. And the dimmies queue up to sign up as if it’s Christmas. Is that a fair comment? I believe so, because every tenner laid at evens on Sprintre Sacre usually gets ploughed into something else. I mean who deposits a tenner and goes through the rigmarole of withdrawing it the next day? It’s ploughed into some other product and Bobs your uncle. Whilst everyone from the BHA downward is clapping themselves on the back at producing another showcase event – and it was, I offer a word of caution. I listened to the great Micky Fitzgerald on the excellent Morning Line, a show I’ve been lucky to participate in, eulogising about his former boss producing the horse in tip top condition to wrest the big prize of the Gold Cup. And I congratulate my friend Nicky for his skills. However, the last time I saw the great Bobs in action was November. He wasn’t the only one of course. A number of top jumping stars rested from December onwards. Fine, the weather was poor in January, but there were still opportunities to be had, rejected by stable stars with owners rich enough to take the gamble and lie low for months. In the meantime viewers on telly, and worse attendees on course endured uncompetitive events and ‘match races’ for months. There have been 23 grade one events this season. 16 won by the favourite, and 6 by the second favourites. It highlights the predictable nature of jump racing these days, and hardly pads the Levy.It’s not good enough in my view. I don’t care who wins the Gold Cup, it’s a great institution, and whatever lifts the little cup, Dessie or Nortons Coin, is going to be big news. Micky Fitz was right to congratulate the great one, but he forgets the intervening months have become drab and boring. Might I remind those looking in- Desert Orchid ran 8 or 9 times a year. He was an athlete and so are today’s horses. It disproves the current lame excuse given for horses languishing in their boxes, that they’re not ‘capable’ of winning top races if they race in February. And if you’re Newbury or Kempton? You’re doing the industry no favours by permitting quiet gallops for top stars after racing. Ask Fontwell who provided 50 grand for a five runner race how they felt at the lack of ambition? Simonsig? Beatable. Dynaste beaten. Where was the inventiveness of connections then? Small fields for Championship races at the Festival? An alarming development for Racing. As for Quevega? Group class in a seller, just leaves me cold. There’s only one horse who cannot be bested these days. One. Let them race. By Geoff Banks  

Filed Under: Cheltenham Festival 2013, Review Tagged With: Back In Front, Bobs Worth, Cheltenham Festival, Desert Orchid, Dynaste, Geoff Banks, Hurricane Fly, Nortons Coin, Pont Alexandre, Quevega, Salsify, Simonsig, Sprinter Sacre, Tony McCoy

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