At Sandown Park on the 25 April 2015, riding Box Office, two jumps from home, the realisation hit me. This is it. This is really the end. I was now a matter of seconds away from the moment all the numbers stopped for ever. My career total of National Hunt winners would remain at 4,348 after this, my 17,546th ride. All the stats, the numbers that had governed my life for the last two decades, they were just a few hundred yards from being stilled for ever. My whole career, my whole adult life, had been built on making those numbers click upwards as fast as I could, but in a couple of furlongs they would never move again. Deciding to retire was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make. Fortunately I was able to go out at the very top, and being able to say that makes me a very, very lucky man indeed. And now, in this book, I've been able to look back over my entire career - both good and bad moments - and see it in its entirety: the biggest wins, the disappointments, the injuries and the tragedies, my wonderful family, and the amazing horses and the fantastic personalities I've worked with.
18,000 people turned up to that final race at Sandown, and I can now look back on my career with immense pride and gratitude. But that chapter of my life is closed. This book is the final word on my riding career - it's time to move forward.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
A careful and unfailingly generous memoir, with friends honoured, employers respected, opponents admired and family at the centre of everything. But, mainly, it is the story of winning, of talent allied to absolute single-mindedness, of a will to win that could power a small town. -- Steven Gerrard DAILY MAIL This is a fast-paced read that gallops along breathlessly from record to record, horse to horse. It starts close to the finish - two hurdles from home aboard Box Office at Sandown - and you are gripped from that moment on. RACING POST He comes across as a complex character - honest about himself, sometimes emotional, always single-minded and determined, brave and, finally, grounded. This is a lovely book about an extraordinary jockey and a special person. Horse and Countryside Magazine
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 237 mm
Breite: 158 mm
Dicke: 28 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-4091-6240-7 (9781409162407)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Born in County Antrim in 1974, A. P. McCoy rode his first winner in 1992. In 1996, he was crowned champion jockey for the first time, and he has held the title ever since. He received an OBE in 2010, a year after riding his 3,000th winner, and he was the first jockey to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He lives with his wife, Chanelle, and children, Eve and Archie, in Berkshire. Follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AP_McCoy
