“The bare statistics – 13,000 rides, 3,000 jumping winners, 15 consecutive championships – are awesome enough and unmatched by anyone in any sport. But they have been achieved on a uniquely demanding and dangerous treadmill where injuries are regular, travel incessant, hunger constant and competitors out to best you every day.” Brough Scott
When in April 2010 Tony McCoy powered Don’t Push It past the Aintree winning post to win the Grand National at his 15th attempt, one of the most remarkable sporting stories of all reached a glorious new height – and McCoy himself was transformed from horseracing phenomenon to national treasure.
Within racing, his astonishing achievements had long been familiar. He won the jump jockeys’ championship in Britain in 1995-96, his very first season as a fully-fledged professional, and has won it every year since. He has won countless big races – including the Champion Hurdle three times and the Cheltenham Gold Cup as well as the Grand National – and has routinely demolished the records, notably most wins in a jump jockey’s career (over 3,000 winners, against Richard Dunwoody’s previous record of 1,699) and most winners in a single season (289, against Flat legend Gordon Richards’ 269 in 1947).
But, as this book graphically illustrates through words and a feast of photographs, there are other sides to the Tony McCoy story, including the occupational hazard of bone-crunching injury on the one hand, and a richly rewarding family life on the other.
Compiled by Brough Scott, himself a jump jockey before becoming a leading light in journalism and television, McCoy makes extensive use of the photographic and reporting resources of the Racing Post to provide the perfect tribute to a sporting legend.
McCoy: A Racing Post Celebration
Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
