| A. P. McCoy | |
|---|---|
McCoy on Refinement in 2006 |
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| Occupation | Jockey |
| Born | 4 May 1974 Moneyglass, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Career wins | 3,500+ |
| Major racing wins, honours and awards | |
| Major racing wins | |
| Grand National Winner | |
| Honours | |
| OBE Sports Personality of the Year |
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Anthony Peter McCoy OBE (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as A. P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey.
Having recorded his first win at age 17 in 1992, by 2009 he had ridden over 3,000 winners and been named British jump racing Champion Jockey every year since 1995/6. His winners included the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase and the 2010 Grand National, riding Don't Push It on his 15th attempt. He has ridden over 13,000 races (equivalent of 31,000 miles or 1.25 times around the earth). In addition, McCoy was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010, becoming the first jockey to win the award.[1]
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McCoy rode his first winner, 'Legal Steps', at Thurles, on 26 March 1992 at the age of 17. Success in Ireland soon led to a move across the Irish Sea, and he began riding in England in 1994. McCoy's main trainer was Martin Pipe but they parted ways. He had begun working at a dealers yard when he was 15, and then apprenticed with Jim Bolger for 4 years.
McCoy has broken numerous records since he was granted a British licence, his first win in England coming at Exeter on 7 September 1994. He was soon off to a flying start by claiming a record 74 winners, and thus the conditional jockey championship, in the 1994-95 season. The following season he became champion jockey for the first time.
By the end of the decade he had set a new National Hunt record for winners in a season (253), equalled the record of five winners at the 1998 Cheltenham Festival, and became the fastest jockey to reach the 1000 winner mark.
McCoy went on to beat Gordon Richards' theretofore unbeaten record for winners in a season for all types of racing in 2002 (although by using modern technology McCoy was able to attend far more races than Richards). McCoy beat Richards' record of 269 winners in a season on 'Valfonic' at Warwick on 2 April 2002; he went on to end the campaign on 289.
McCoy soon achieved a new high of 289 winners, and on 27 August 2002, at Uttoxeter, his victory on 'Mighty Mantefalco' meant he had surpassed Richard Dunwoody's record of all time jumps winners and was now the leading jumps rider of all time.
On 3 October 2006 McCoy became the first jump jockey to ride 2,500 winners. McCoy rode his 3000th winner at Plumpton on the Nicky Henderson-trained 'Restless D'Artaix' in the Tyser & Co Beginners’ Chase on 9 February 2009. 'Restless D'Artaix' was sent off a 13-8 Favourite for the race.
McCoy has gone on to ride over 3000 winners and says he never stops dreaming of the day he will reach 4000.
Having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase and the Grand National. The nearest McCoy had previously come in the National were three third-place finishes, in 2001 and 2002 aboard Martin Pipe's Blowing Wind (as the 8-1 favourite in 2002), and in 2006 on Jonjo O'Neill's 5-1 joint favourite, Clan Royal. In 2009 he finished 7th on Butler's Cabin, which started as 7/1 favourite.
He finally won the Grand National at the fifteenth attempt, on 10 April 2010 aboard Don't Push It, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by J. P. McManus.[2]
McCoy is retained by the Irish millionaire and avid horse-owner, J. P. McManus, and normally rides for ex-jockey Jonjo O'Neill's stable. McCoy can often be noticed riding a McManus horse by the owner's distinctive green and gold hooped jersey, often with a white cap.
McCoy was awarded the 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, beating darts player Phil Taylor and heptathlete Jessica Ennis into second and third place respectively. Winning the 2010 Grand National at his 15th attempt riding the Jonjo O'Neill trained Don't Push It was a contributing factor to his win.[1]. He was presented with the award by the then Arsenal Captain Cesc Fabregas and during his speech he joked that he will be "that idiot in the crowd shouting at him" when he goes to watch Arsenal play.
McCoy was born in Moneyglass, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He wrote an autobiography, McCoy in 2003, to follow up his first book, Real McCoy: My Life So Far, released in 1999.
Standing at 1.78 m (5'10"), McCoy has been known to diet in order to make the low weights on some rides, starving himself down to 63.5 kg (10 st) when his natural weight is about 9.5 kg (one and a half stone) more.[3] Speaking on BBC1, McCoy revealed he had days when he had been for a run, had a hot bath, and then been in tears getting out because of exhaustion. He has had over 680 falls since becoming a Jockey. Due to this he has incurred a number of bone breakages which include; a middle and lower vertebrae, both shoulder blades, ribs, an ankle, cheekbones, a wrist, a leg and chipped teeth. He has also dislocated his thumb. He is an avid Arsenal fan.[4]
McCoy was appointed MBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours[5] and OBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours for his services to horse racing.[6][7]
In December 2010, McCoy was named Sportsman of the Year at the British Sports Awards in London, voted for by the Sports Journalists Association.[8]