Iron man AP McCoy chases Hollywood ending aboard Box Office at Sandown

Peter Scudamore rode an incredible 1,678 winners but has seen his achievements dwarfed by AP McCoy. Here, he identifies what he believes are the 10 finest achievements of Saturday's retiring champion.

1 RIDING HIS 4,000th WINNER AT TOWCESTER ON NOVEMBER 7, 2013

He has won virtually every big race in the calendar but McCoy’s greatest feat has to be the immense tally of winners he has ridden. To put his numbers into perspective, in the all-time list of successful jockeys, great rival Richard Johnson is closest to him and the gap is around 1,500 winners.

2 HIS 20 STRAIGHT JUMP JOCKEY TITLES

If you like your champions dominant, you have to love McCoy. No modern sportsman can match his reign. He outstrips 16-time darts world champion Phil Taylor by almost 200 weeks, with a staggering 1,040 weeks at the top. That compares to 364 for Formula One’s Michael Schumacher and 302 for tennis ace Roger Federer.

3 WINNING THE 1994-95 CONDITIONAL JOCKEYS CHAMPIONSHIP

McCoy hit the ground running on his arrival in Britain from Ireland, landing the apprentice title for jumps jockeys with a record 74 wins. Not surprisingly, it is another McCoy record which still stands.

4 RECORD 290 WINNERS IN A SEASON (2001-02)

The 300-winner season McCoy craved proved too much even for him but he got close with 289 in Britain and one abroad. His feat outstripped the European record of German Peter Schiergen (271 in 1995) and Sir Gordon Richards’ best of 269 in 1947.

5 WINNING BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR IN 2010

Not to be underestimated. Frankie Dettori and Lester Piggott are household names but neither of those great jockeys won this prestigious title. McCoy’s prodigious achievements have transcended racing’s usual boundaries and his peerless career has gained the respect it deserves.

6 DON’T PUSH IT’S 2010 GRAND NATIONAL WIN

Picking out even a handful of McCoy’s best wins is an exercise in subjective futility. We all have our favourites but Don’t Push It’s victory at Aintree was arguably the most significant on the greatest stage. Plenty of top jockeys have never had a sniff of the Grand National winner’s enclosure.

7 WORTH HIS WEIGHT

Unbelievably, given the lengths to which he has gone to control his weight and boil himself down, McCoy has never had to put up overweight (carry more than his mount was allotted). It is another example of his extraordinary self control.

8 BREAKING MY FASTEST TIME TO 100 WINNERS IN A SEASON

I never thought my fastest-to-100-wins record would stand forever but in November 1996 McCoy thrashed my best by 30 days. A season later and he beat his own record by 16 days. This season he set a new best for a fastest ton on August 21, 116 days into the season.

9 NOT JUST THE WIDTH, FEEL THE QUALITY

He has not had the consistent big-race firepower of compatriot Ruby Walsh but 31 winners at the Cheltenham Festival is still an amazing tally for McCoy and includes three Champion Hurdles and two Gold Cups. To put that in perspective, John Francome only had 10 Festival wins and Richard Dunwoody 18, while I had 13. In all, he rode 196 wins at Cheltenham.

10 THE WORCESTER SOURCE

McCoy has ridden more winners at Worcester — 298 from 1,089 rides — than at any course in Britain and the venue, while not individually significant, is symbolic. It shows what a force of energy he has been at the mundane weekly meetings. Never has his motivation dropped, no matter how small the stage. It is a trait which set him apart.

The jockey they all struggle to beat but also a rider no sane jockey would attempt to emulate. 

That is the verdict of colleague Andrew Thornton when trying to explain what has made AP McCoy such a dominant force in his sport. 

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Thornton has been one of the few weighing room colleagues to witness McCoy’s entire career, from shy newcomer to national sporting superstar. 

‘It is a bit like watching Lionel Messi on a horse,’ said Thornton. ‘He had so much time but he has a technique you wouldn’t teach to anybody.

 ‘It might sound like madness when you are talking about a 20-time champion but it is unique. He keeps the bit high up in the horse’s mouth though the general rule is to drop your hands on the back of your mount’s neck. But AP loves to be in 100 per cent control. Whatever his mount does, it is his decision. 

‘He judges pace so well. He leaves his runs later now and he adapted his style since he started riding for Jonjo O’Neill.

‘When he was with Martin Pipe, it was often a case of make sure you put everyone to the sword a mile from home. He would probably even admit he got some horses beaten around Cheltenham in the early days that would not get beaten now. 

‘He is very aware of what is going on around him. If you look at this year’s Grand National, and when he won it in 2010 on Don’t Push It, he had so much room. He finds room in a race and uses it. 

‘You also never know how much he has left in the tank. You very rarely see him sitting still. It is a bit like a coiled spring.’

 Thornton, who needs fewer than 20 winners to reach 1,000 in his career, says age has mellowed McCoy, who is an unassuming figure among his colleagues. Former jockey Luke Harvey, now a TV presenter for At The Races, agrees.

‘He has never been the big “I am”. ‘I used to run The Blowing Stone pub in Lambourn and he would come along even though he doesn’t drink.

‘He would stand in and play for the pool team and what p***ed you off was that he was good at that as well.

‘Before he was married, his home was like a doss house, full of jockeys who got back late from racing and could not be bothered to go home. 

‘Seamus Durack (now a Lambourn trainer) bought a house but liked living at AP’s so much he rented it out and stayed at AP’s.’

Richard Hughes, champion Flat jockey, is impressed by McCoy’s legendary focus. ‘I was on holiday with him in Portugal. AP played two days’ golf, flew home to ride at Sedgefield and then back out to play the final day. We told him he was mad.’