Tony McCoy from hero to zero
As Tony McCoy made the journey to Ludlow yesterday there was one figure in his mind.
It was not the 195 winners that left him streets ahead of Richard Johnson in the jockeys’ championship that ended on Saturday, that barely comprehendible 15th consecutive title or the 3200 winners – and still counting – that means that his career total is already nearly double that of any other jump jockey in history with the exception of the indefatigable Johnson, destined once more to finish as runner-up.
No, the figure that burned into McCoy’s psyche as he walked into the weighing room for the start of another season was not even the two rides he was booked for. It was zero.
Hardly the most positive mentality from the man who has become both the irresistible force on a horse and the immovable object to all pretenders to his place in the jockeys’ pecking order. But that is what makes this man take the hammerings on the anvil of his chosen profession – be they falls from dodgy novice chasers or hours of self-inflicted purgatory in a sauna – that have fashioned him into one of the most dedicated and complete sportsmen this country has seen.
Even with the champion’s trophy in his hands his thoughts were already elsewhere and had been for some time. “It’s something you set out to achieve from the beginning of the season and the last couple of weeks, when you know you’ve ridden enough winners to be champion jockey, then you’re thinking about starting on zero again,” McCoy said. “I’ve been doing it for the last three weeks.”
The other thought, and race, that has not been far from his thoughts in those three weeks is Don’t Push It’s victory in the Grand National at Aintree. One of the threads that has run through the tapestry of McCoy’s career is that each winner is forgotten almost in an instant, with the next one the only point of focus.
For the first time in his life the man from Moneyglass has found a moment of satisfaction that no amount of money can buy. Even now McCoy finds it hard to articulate the profound depth of his joy of finally fulfilling a life-long dream.
“For the last five or six years I’d consoled myself with saying that better jockeys than me hadn’t won the Grand National so I thought I was ok. Even now that I’ve won it I couldn’t express to people enough how much luck you need to win the Grand National. I was on the best horse, he was trained to the minute for the day, everything went right but you need so much luck.”
How lucky most of the rest of the world would feel about pursing an occupation that includes a lifestyle that would make a starving man offer you his last piece of bread out of sympathy is open to question, but McCoy does it to satisfy a greater hunger. “I probably have to lose three or 4lbs every day and the lightest weight I’ve had to do this year, in the Imperial Cup, was 10-three and I was 10st stripped – and that’s real hard work.”
For anyone who has tried – and often failed – to shed a few excess pounds after holiday excesses McCoy’s diet is the difference between climbing a flight of stairs and the north face of the Eiger. “That’s not just an overnight thing – you really, really mind it for week. And the closer you get to the race, the more difficult it gets because your body gets to 10-fourish and it knows that there’s very, very little to come off and you really have to punish yourself to get that last 4lbs off.
“I feel it affects me more the night after I’ve done a light weight than it actually does on the horse. I feel that I’m okay on the horse. Some people can handle it better than others. I’m mentally silly enough to get over it rather quickly.
“If we’re racing every day it’s much easier your weight is always in control. It’s when you have a bit of time off [that it can be a problem]. And mentally you have to let yourself go a little bit.”
McCoy’s mind was clearly on the job at Ludlow. Two rides, two winners, not that he would ever claim to have it all figured out.
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