Every sport has its GOAT. Some, like Tom Brady in American football, are obvious. But who is the greatest of all time in thoroughbred racing? Frankel is the consensus equine GOAT, and AP McCoy gets my vote as the human GOAT.
Officially, the AP in AP McCoy stands for Anthony Peter. Unofficially, it stands for Absolutely Perfect. There is no tougher form of thoroughbred racing than jumps racing – jockeys in this discipline are separated from their mounts in approximately 10 per cent of their races – yet McCoy rode through the pain barrier to register a record 20 consecutive British championships, one for every season he was a professional. Before turning professional, McCoy won the British conditional title with a term record of 74 wins in that category. Records are there to be broken, but many of McCoy’s marks are likely to stand for neither years nor decades, but centuries. Good luck to anyone trying to eclipse them because they are going to need plenty.
The availability of Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Andrew Johns moved handicap betting lines significantly in basketball, ice hockey and rugby league games respectively, but the booking of McCoy had an even greater impact on the odds in National Hunt races. McCoy rode more than 4,000 winners, and hundreds of them would not have passed the post first without jumps racing’s GOAT holding their reins.
Streaming services are overflowing with sports documentaries such as The Carter Effect, The Last Dance and The Speed Cubers, but set aside a couple of hours to watch Being AP and become acquainted with the greatest jockey of all time.
I would love you to visit my blog every day for its daily serve of fresh content. But I would love you more if you hired me. I am well-bred, by Racing Post out of WA Turf Club. I am well-rounded, a winner over many courses and distances. And I am well-placed, available to add value to your existing team. Do the form on a racing, wagering and communications thoroughbred at markworwood.com.
