AP McCoy

Met him and Carl Lwyellen (welsh frigging spelling Roddy sort it out) in Portugal playing golf. Both were gents and we kept bumping into them over the week and they always stopped for a chat and a laugh. AP knows how to enjoy himself without having a drink. Carl is a nutcase and absolutely hilarious.
 
First time I saw him live was at Worcester, he rode Anna Valley for Toby Balding: me and dad were walking to the exit until he did his "thing"....amazing; even then!!!
 
Brilliant on his three winners today but even he is mortal as the ride on Regal Encore showed .
 
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Chris Cook in today's Guardian

Another two winners at Aintree on Sunday mean Tony McCoy is 11 shy of 4,000. Of course, no jump jockey has ever reached that total; the same might have been said after each additional winner he has ridden since the day in August 2002 when he reached 1,700 and beat the previous career record set by Richard Dunwoody.

The champ in the saddle is a wondrous thing, as those who saw Sunday's final race will not need to be told. Pushing and shoving all the way up the straight, McCoy never looked likely to win until he did. His talent, appetite, drive and durability astound.

But he would not be so close to 4,000 were it not for an oddity about the way jockeys conduct their business: they all cost the same. If your horse runs tomorrow and you hire McCoy, his fee will be £157.72. Should you choose instead a jockey who has not won all year, his fee will also be £157.72 and, in the event of success, you would have to pay them an identical share of the prize money.

The same is true of Flat jockeys, though their fee is around £40 less. Baffling though it may appear, it costs no more to leg-up Frankie Dettori than someone who has not booted home all seven winners on a valuable card at Ascot.

As a simple matter of fact, there is nothing to stop individual jockeys charging a higher fee for their services, if they believe someone is prepared to pay. But such arrangements, if any exist, have been kept very quiet and have not been heard of at the Professional Jockeys Association or the British Horseracing Authority.

Who can doubt that McCoy could easily get away with charging a lot more than the present fee? Even in the context of that lowly last race at Aintree on Sunday, his efforts appeared to make a difference of £1,800, the drop in prize money from first to second.

Given his reputation as one of the world's great sportsmen, a man who has dominated his profession for 18 years, the fair market rate for his services should probably be more than double the average. It would, of course, mean that some who use him now might look for a cheaper option – fewer rides, therefore, and fewer winners but a higher income in the end.

A few years ago Britain's jockeys collectively chewed over the question of whether the time had come to end the culture of the flat fee, letting each rider charge as he or she pleased. "It never got past first base," recalls Mick Fitzgerald, who, as a high-profile jump jockey at the time, would have had something to gain from a free market but spoke against it anyway. "The general feeling was that a lot of lads do the same job, they take the same risks and they deserve to be rewarded accordingly," he said on Sunday.

The weighing room should not be mistaken for a socialist paradise. Those like McCoy who get to ride fancied runners in the biggest races make a lot more in prize money than their colleagues and he is also among the few who can command a hefty retainer from an owner. It might, additionally, be said there would be more opportunities for those with a lower profile if they were allowed to charge a lower fee.

Still, without getting misty-eyed, there is something enviable about the weighing room, where each person's work has the same official value and egos are, to a degree, kept in check by the prospect of a ride back in the ambulance. We may not all be in this together but jump jockeys are closer than most of us.
 
Probably go to Chepstow on Wednesday if it looks like the 4000th winner will be achieved there, if it happens at Exeter on Tues or Chepstow I bet Martin Pipe tries to hog the limelight.
 
Looking at the card tomorrow, I see AP's second ride is on a horse called Mission Complete, would be rather appropiate. :rolleyes:
 
There was something I didn't quite like about AP jocking off Jonjo's claimer from Minella Steak at lunchtime today, but couldn't put my finger on it. Now I see the horse is in the Ascot Sales tomorrow. The plot thickens.:ninja:
 
As someone said at kempton on Monday

Hes also ridden 17000 fcking losers

Bit harsh

I admire him but cant warm to him. Sort of respect him more if he said it was neither here nor there
 
its not either here nor there though is it?..the jumps game is tough..just riding 4000 horses without having had enough is tough alone..what he has done is remarkable just to keep doing it year in year out

you very hard to please Clive
 
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Didnt say i agreed with him! Just made a few laugh.

Shouldnt **** on his parade but when he said about Binocular missing Cheltenham as being "one of the worst days of my life" my immediate reaction is fcking get one

Or go and visit a hospice or somewhere and see what is really important
 
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Why? The game isnt just about admiring stats and time ratings or whatever

I dont overconcern myself with personalities of the main players generally but those that are a bit obsessive do leave me cold. Its a passing comment. As i said I admire his dedication and skill enormously
 
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