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I see the champ is taking a bit of a break. Winding down slowly, so make the most of his brilliance while you can.
AP admits in his autobiography that there are better jockeys than him riding, but none work so hard or have the fear of failure which drives him.
He also says his style on a horse, in general, is a deliberately busy one in many cases, preferring to push horses into the bridle and make them believe they can win. He thinks it gives a horse confidence.
It would be interesting, imo, to have a look at some such rides where he is at the horse throughout and see what price it trades, and the P&L.
As for MTOY, I believe what I always have; he is not a battler. He would not have passed Jezki. He could not get past Champagne Fever. Those who saw his Kempton victory over TNO and decided that made him a battler paid the price in the Champion Hurdle. Reality at Kempton was that TNO’s blunder gave MTOY first run at a crucial time and TNO could not get back on terms in time to engage in a battle.
MTOY’s a lovely horse, a cruiser who might learn to settle as he ages. He’s not and never has been a natural jumper of hurdles, which hasn’t helped him settle.
He’s not going to win a CH now and ought to go fencing where you should see the best of him jumping-wise. But he’s just a bit soft in a finish – not a bridle horse in the broad sense, just doesn’t have that do-or-die streak.
AP is a modest man. There are no better jockeys than him. There might be one or two who are slightly better at certain aspects of the job of getting a beast over an obstacle, but overall he is the man.
Steeplechasing – Don’t forget MTOY’s got up the hill quicker than Jezki in the Supreme the year before, Barry G made a great tactical move before the last in going left and just putting MTOY’s off his stride and therefore losing slight momentum and meeting the last wrong. Champagne Fever showed again this year how tough a horse he is from the front and only just got collared. If, if, if bloody if MTOY’s could settle he would not need to battle up the hill as he would save enough energy to canter past them albeit The New One was extremely unlucky and would have been there or very close and he would be the early pick for next if you had to chose one now.
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I really admire McCoy and these days I think he speaks as well as any sportsman of recent times. I`m not sure he suits every horse too well. A long time ago now but I always hoped other riders could have been tried on Exotic Dancer
What he seems best at is getting 100% out of any horse he rides. You know if a McCoy horse doesn’t win, it isn’t for want of trying. He seems to almost carry them past the post.
AP McCoy is the greatest NH jockey of all time. There is no debate as far as I’m concerned.
Yes, there may have been better "horsemen" and stylists in the saddle; other greats like Fred Winter, Tim Malony, John Francome, Richard Dunwoody and Ruby Walsh – McCoy himself will tell you he isn’t the best stylist around – but none had or have the insatiable drive, the outright commitment and sheer will to win more than Anthony Peter McCoy does.
To win 1 jockey’s championship is an achievement, but to win 18 in a row is just utterly mind blowing. It takes a very special person indeed to have the will and belief to achieve such a feat – a feat that will never be surpassed. NEVER be surpassed or equalled.
Instead of picking faults, we should instead be saluting this sporting great.
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