A nod to the champ

By Alan Conway

What defines greatness? Is it the ability to consistently prove yourself to be the best in your chosen field? Is it how you deal with setbacks and how they drive you on to even greater success? Whatever the hallmarks of greatness are Anthony Peter McCoy, or AP to you and me, has greatness flowing through his veins. The sport of horse racing knows this. Hopefully this weekend the rest of the sports world will tip their collective caps to Tony McCoy and he will land the BBC Sports Personality of the year.

Normally the award goes to a sports person who showed moments of brilliance over the pervious 12 months, McCoy has shown consistent brilliance over the last 15 years. Ever since he won his first race on Legal Steps at Thurles in March 1982 McCoy has fought to be the best jockey ever to throw a leg over a horse.

Through unmatched determination, courage and an unbreakable will to win he has risen the standard by which all jockeys will be measured. It would need a super human effort if his records are ever to be broken. And they are some records that he has set.

He has been champion jockey since the 1995-96 season. Year after year they came after McCoy but they could not topple him. He took on the best and beat them time after time. Look at the names he beat. Richard Dunwoody, Adrian Maguire, Mick Fitzgerald. The list could go on forever yet McCoy remained at the top.

But why has he remained at the top? We all know about his talent. His ability to lift horses over the line when they seemed to have nothing left. His willingess to push his body and mind to the limit for a winner. I have a feeling that there is something deep inside McCoy that pushes him on.

One reason might be that there is a voice inside him that drives him. The voice of Jim Bolger. When McCoy lay on Bolger’s gallops with his leg shattered Bolger pronounced “You’re not tough enough to be a jump jockey”. In McCoy’s own words “I had to prove him wrong”. He certainly did that.

Looking back at what he has achieved it is perplexing that recognition from other sports has been so slow in coming. If he was in any other sport he would have been lauded as a national treasure already. The hope is that the Sports Personality award will bring new fans to racing. This is wrong. It should be about a living legend getting the due recognition he deserves.

His victory on Don’t Push It in the Grand National captured people’s attention. It put racing on the front pages. We in the industry owe a debt of gratitude to Tony McCoy. He has always acted like a champion should. Never backing down from a challenge. Always willing to go that extra yard for that rush of victory. It would be nice if the world of sport realised what Tony McCoy is. If not, then we should not worry. We are the lucky ones that have him to ourselves.

By Alan Conway