AP McCoy, the jump jockey who like the Duracell bunny never runs low on energy, has admitted that he is after all human. The man who has been champion every single year since he started riding professionally, 19 times in all (with a 20th in the bag), announced his decision to retire on Saturday.
Tony McCoy has already broken more records than any of his rivals, ever, and even at 40, a geriatric in the racing saddle, this season he rode his first 100 winners faster than anyone ever has before.
It was after he had ridden his 4,000th winner just over a year ago, in a sport where a career total of 1,000 winners is unusual, that he revealed that for the first time he felt proud of his achievements. It is this refusal to feel that he has ever done enough that puts the final edge on a man who maybe the most complete and remarkable jockey in jump racing history.
What most obviously marks him out is his sheer desire to win, and to win as often as he possibly can. His weekly itinerary takes him from Chepstow to Catterick and Ayr to Exeter. But that is a matter of logistics. He is smart at picking rides, but so are most top jockeys.
It is when he is on a tired horse, or one not just quite quick enough, that the McCoy magic really shows. Apparently beaten, somehow he can conjure out of his ride more heart and speed than even its own mother could have imagined. It’s hard to imagine anyone ever being able to do it again.
