James – Page 13 – Horse Racing Noise

Sir AP McCoy’s career is stellar, with his most noteworthy victories coming in the elite Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase, and the 2010 Grand National, which he won on Don't Push It. He was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010, becoming the first jockey ever to do so and he was nominated RTÉ Sports Person of the Year in December 2013. In January 2016, he was knighted. How many times did AP McCoy win Champion Jump Jockey McCoy, who was based in Ireland and the United Kingdom, rode a total of 4,358 winners and was Champion Jockey for a record Twenty Years. Sir AP McCoy – The Early Years At the age of 17, McCoy rode the Jim Bolger-trained Legal Steps to victory in a flat race at Thurles racetrack in Ireland on March 26, 1992. For the first several years of his career, McCoy worked as an apprentice at the Jim Bolger's stable. McCoy experienced a horrific accident and shattered his leg on the gallops while riding with Bolger one morning. By the time McCoy recovered from his leg break, he had grown taller, and it was deemed that being a jump jockey was the best choice. His success in Ireland led to a transfer over the Irish Sea, where he started riding in England in 1994. His first win in England came on September 7, 1994, when he rode the Gordon Edwards-trained Chickabiddy to a length triumph at Exeter. McCoy began his career in England as a conditional jockey for prominent trainer Toby Balding, where he won the Conditional Jump Jockeys Title in 1995. For the first time, he was crowned champion jockey the following season. Sir AP McCoy – Martin Pipe, Paul Nicholls, and his Record-Breaking Feats McCoy had exploded onto the scene as a consequence of his debut season riding in Britain, and he quickly drew the attention of top trainer Martin Pipe and, later, up-and-coming Paul Nicholls. In 1997, McCoy teamed up with powerhouse trainer Martin Pipe, and the two proved to be an extraordinarily strong pairing that dominated the sport. By the end of the decade, McCoy had established a new National Hunt record for winners in a season (253), tied the 1998 Cheltenham Festival record of five winners, and became the quickest rider to reach the 100-winner milestone in a season in 2001. He went on to break Gordon Richards' long-standing record for the most victories ridden in a season, which had held since 1947. Despite his several Champion Jockey titles and major race triumphs, McCoy has said that this is his proudest accomplishment. On 2 April 2002, he broke Richards' record of 269 victories in a season on Valfonic at Warwick. He set a new record of 289 winners, and his victory aboard Mighty Montefalco on August 27, 2002, at Uttoxeter meant he had broken Richard Dunwoody's all-time jumps record and was now the top jumps jockey. On 3 October 2006, he became the first jump jockey to ride 2,500 winners when he got Kanpai up to score at Huntingdon. On 9 February 2009, McCoy rode Restless D'Artaix, trained by Nicky Henderson, to his 3000th winning in the Tyser & Co Beginners' Chase at Plumpton. Sir AP McCoy – The Grand National Despite victories in the major races on the jumps racing calendar, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, and King George VI Chase, McCoy was yet to win the Grand National. Three third-place finishes in the National came in 2001, 2002, and 2005, atop Martin Pipe's Blowing Wind and Jonjo O'Neill's 5-1 joint-favorite, Clan Royal, who was still going nicely until impeded by a loose horse ruined any hope of victory. All this changed on 10 April 2010, when McCoy won the Grand National riding Don't Push It, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by J. P. McManus. In 2012, McCoy won his second Cheltenham Gold Cup on Synchronised, trained, and owned by the same combination as his first winner. McCoy's winning ride on Synchronised was a snapshot of McCoy’s powerful riding style aboard all of those winners that he had ridden in his career. Synchronized seemed to be outpaced in the opening part of the three-mile race, but she powered up the renowned Cheltenham hill, passing both past champion Long Run and The Giant Bolster to win the blue riband event at the Cheltenham Festival. Sir AP McCoy – Momentum not stunted by Setbacks McCoy's 2013/2014 National Hunt season was disrupted because he broke his ribs in a violent fall on the Nicky Henderson-trained Quantitativeeasing in a handicap hurdle at Cheltenham's end-of-season April meeting. After spending seven nights in the hospital, McCoy returned to action a month later at Ludlow and promptly started his season account on the JP McManus-owned horse Church Field. After riding a stunning five-timer at Carlisle Racecourse in October, he broke the 100-winner milestone for the 2013/2014 season, soon followed by 5 winners during the two-day Aintree October meeting. McCoy set a new record for the quickest century of winners in a National Hunt season when he rode the John Ferguson-trained Arabic History to victory at Newton Abbot Racecourse on August 21, 2014, 116 days into the season. McCoy's previous record, achieved during the 2001/2002 season, stood at 100 wins by the 4th of September, or around 130 days into the season. McCoy stated live on Channel 4 following his Game Spirit Chase victory against Mr Mole that he will retire after the 2014/15 NH season. It was his 200th victory of the season, the ninth time he had achieved that milestone, and he subsequently said that it would be his last such success. His final professional ride came in April 2015 at the Bet365 Gold Cup meeting at Sandown. Sir AP McCoy – THE LEGEND For his contributions to horse racing, McCoy was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). McCoy was elected Sportsman of the Year at the British Sports Awards in London in December 2010, as chosen by the Sports Journalists' Association. He was given awards to commemorate his record of 289 jump victories in the 2001/2002 season, the most Champion Jump Jockey titles (20), and the most career jump winners. He will never be forgotten for his contribution to not just Jump Racing, but Horse Racing. He is a true LEGEND.