A.P. McCoy: A brilliant Jockey
Anthony Peter McCoy MBE, a well known jockey was born on May 4, 1974 in Northern Ireland. Usually recognized as A.P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, he is famous for his outstanding career in horse racing. McCoy has turned his focus on writing as well as he came up with an excellent autobiography named ‘McCoy’ in 2003 to put across his past experiences in a superior manner. Earlier in 1999, McCoy wrote and published his first book named ‘Real McCoy: My Life So Far’. In addition, he is known for his charming personality of 5 feet 10 inches and is famous for wearing a white riding cap during a race. Due to an intense fitness regime, McCoy has kept a stringent diet program to retain a weight below 63.5 kg.
A.P. McCoy won his first professional race at the age of 17 in 1992. After that, his continuous victories hit the 3,000 figure by 2009. He has been winning the British jump racing Champion Jockey award since 1995. A.P. McCoy was rewarded with MBE in 2003. Some of his other major achievements include the win at King George VI Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Champion Hurdle and the 2010 Grand National in recent success stories.
He rode Thurles to win his first challenge held on 26 March, 1992. This McCoy’s victory provided him an opportunity to move across the sea. In 1994, he started riding in England. He was just fifteen year old when he initiated working at dealer’s yard. It was here that he was trained by Jim Bolger for four years. But Martin Pipe is considered as his main trainer. McCoy’s first win was recorded at Exeter, England on 7th September, 1994. He made various records in England before taking a British license. He declared 74 wins to make a flying start along with becoming a trophy winner of the 1995 Jockey Championship season. He made it true by winning his first jockey championship.
McCoy placed new National Hunt record by winning 253 seasonal races till the end of decade. In 1998 he equivalent the record by winning five matches at Cheltenham Festival. McCoy was the fastest champion who reached the mark of 1000 wins. Due to change and technical advancement in horse racing industry, McCoy had beaten Gordon Richards in 2002 by setting unbeaten record of winning numerous seasonal races of all kinds. It was done on April 2, 2002 on Valfonic at Warwick by beating Richards' record of 269 wins and he ended this campaign on 289. McCoy score went beyond Richard Dunwoody’s record of all time jump winners. He is now a leading horse jumps rider of all time.
His achievements multiplied later with more records. He got the honour of becoming the first jockey who hit 2,500 wins on October 3, 2006. He won his 3000th race with 'Restless D'Artaix' on February 9, 2009. After this achievement, he claimed that he wished to achieve 4000 wins. McCoy had chased and succeeded in Queen Mother Champion Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup, King George VI Chase, and Champion Hurdle this year. At that moment, very few targets were there to be won. Just like last year’s Grand National, he was also looking towards making a great record of 300 wins in 2010 season.
McCoy previous performances in Grand National were also outstanding. He was excellent with three third place finishes, during 2001 and 2002 races. In 2009, he was placed at 7th place on Butler’s Cabin. He was successful in reaching his target; his 15th effort on April 10, 2010 which led him to the winner of the Grand National. Irish millionaire J. P. McManus played a vital role in retaining McCoy. He usually rides for former jockey Jonjo O'Neills. He was observed several times riding McManus horse with his traditional white cap.
Tags: