Time to accept he's the real McCoy

Clare Balding13 April 2012

Early nominations for most durable, successful and, regretfully, unsung sporting hero of the year will include the name of arguably the greatest jockey, Flat or jumping, that we have ever seen.

Tony McCoy was at it again this week ? breaking records, that is. These days he is mainly breaking his own records, as in this case reaching a century of winners seven weeks earlier than his previous best in 1997.

The jumps season started earlier this year, which helped his cause, but it was still an impressive achievement and more remarkable than the record is McCoy?s hunger to gobble up the history books.

His sights are now set on Richard Dunwoody?s career total of 1,699 winners. He has just passed 1,400 so it could be done within the next 18 months.

There is one record set by the late Sir Gordon Richards that no jockey on the Flat or over fences has been able to match and, not surprisingly, that is the more immediate goal for the insatiable McCoy.

He needs to amass more than 269 wins in a season to replace the name of the legendary Richards but even if that can be achieved, it is unlikely McCoy will receive the accolades he deserves.

To demonstrate how good he is, you need only look at the statistics. As he passed the 100-winner mark, his nearest challenger, Richard Johnson, was on 66 for the season, ahead of Mick Fitzgerald on a comparatively measly 30.

McCoy has ridden more horses than anyone else this season but his strike rate of 30 per cent is significantly better than any of his challengers.

Johnson attempted to put him under pressure last season but was rebuffed and looks this year to be burnt off before we have even started to think of Christmas.

In the absence of sustained pressure from the opposition, McCoy drives himself on, crisscrossing the country in search of more winners. While stressing gratitude to his agent Dave Roberts (who books his rides) and the trainer Martin Pipe (who has been responsible for 70 per cent of his tally), McCoy knows he provides his own motivation. He can continue at the rate he has set himself because he loves what he does.

?I am very lucky,? he said. ?I have a great job ? it?s a great way to earn a living. I couldn?t think of a job I?d want to do any more than the one I?m doing now.?

There have been fears expressed in the racing fraternity that the Spartan diet and sustained sweating will take its toll on McCoy. Some fear it will be sooner rather than later but I would venture to suggest that if they believe that, they don?t know the man. I have never met an individual with such extraordinary inner drive, with such high standards, who is so unforgiving of himself and so keen to better his performance every time he is legged up into the saddle.

He can and does unwind ? and how! McCoy doesn?t touch alcohol but, such is his love for socialising, he?s always the last to leave a party. Friends need never worry about a lift home, either. McCoy will happily ferry home those worse for wear. No matter how much he loves to party, McCoy is never happier than when he is preparing to ride, whether it be a moderate horse in a moderate race or a top-class chaser in the Gold Cup.

He is simply phenomenal, an exceptional example of the dedicated professional and yet still his achievements go relatively unrecognised. He has been champion jockey six times, is on course for his seventh and, taking into account that he was champion conditional jockey before turning professional, he has been champion in every single year that he has been riding.

He is consistently and rightfully recognised by those within the racing world but in the wider sporting world, his prowess goes unnoticed. I remember McCoy asking me at last year?s BBC Sports Personality of the Year: ?What has that Jenson Button won, then?? Formula One driver Button had just received the Best Newcomer Award but when questioned so directly about an individual?s achievements, rather than their potential, it is difficult not to sound sheepish.

?Well, nothing actually but it?s very hard in Formula One and he has done amazingly well for someone in their first season . . .?

There was no point in going on. McCoy does not hold much truck with this country?s obsession with sportsmen and women who look good but don?t win anything.

? So, has that Henman won anything decent yet?? is his favourite tennis question and there is no point even broaching the subject of cricket.

It?s not that he has a chip on his shoulder or that he craves more attention. To be posing for glossy photographs would drive him berserk, so he simply continues to do what he loves doing and what he does better than anyone else: riding winners.

One day he will have racked up so many that the watching world will wonder why they had not noticed him before.

Refereeing courses may stop arguments

Perhaps O?Neill was shrouded by a temporary Turin mist but he really should have known better.

I do not condemn the severity of his reaction. We have become quite accustomed to managers and players alike showing a worrying incapacity to control their tempers.

However, O?Neill should know better than to be shocked at a referee awarding a penalty for a dive. There is so much diving in the modern game that it is more surprising to see a player legitimately, or illegitimately if you know what I mean, brought down in the box than to see one take an elaborate tumble because a defender has dared to come near him.

Referees are not helped by the disrespect that is shown towards them by the most senior individuals in the game. Managers remain bizarrely blinkered when it comes to their own players, incapable for the most part of raising even a whisper of public criticism but when they think the referee has made a mistake, God help him.

Players, equally, are inclined towards outright dissent whether they think a referee is right or wrong. The referee should be the equivalent in Premiership football of a High Court judge.

They are the best in the business, have an intimate knowledge of the rules, hold the tools of punishment in their hands and are in the thick of the action for every minute of the match and yet they are booed, jeered, ignored and confronted every step of the way.

It?s a strange sport indeed where the man making the decisions is the worst paid, least admired and most questioned one on the pitch. Perhaps some of our more truculent Premiership players and the more vociferous managers should be sent on a refereeing course to let them see life from the other side of the little black book.

O?Neill, Robbie Savage, Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira, Sir Alex Ferguson et al may benefit from a bit more understanding of the speed of reaction needed and the strength of conviction required to be a referee, especially one in a Premiership match. Empathy might just turn apathy into respect . . . a Utopian dream, perhaps, but it?s always worth trying.

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