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McCoy fit for Festival7th March 2008
Tony McCoy is all the rage to win the Racing Post-sponsored award for top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival next week after he was given the all-clear to resume with two rides at Sandown tomorrow (Saturday).
After receiving clearance from the BHA, following an independent review on Thursday night, the 12-time champion jockey was cut to 5/1 (from 7/1) by Ladbrokes, who reported laying "tens of thousands of pounds in the space of just a few hours."
Ruby Walsh remains favourite at even-money, but it is a fighting-fit McCoy the bookies now fear:
"McCoy still has a magical appeal for punters. This market had been fairly quiet until the injury news was cleared up, but it's now gone into meltdown. Cheltenham without AP would have been awful for punters and bookies alike, so we were thrilled with the news.
"But we're now staring down the barrel of a hefty six-figure payout. McCoy in the winner's enclosure tends to mean one thing - punter delight."
Top Festival jockey, Ladbrokes bet: Evens Ruby Walsh, 5/1 AP McCoy, 8/1 Robert Thornton, 10/1 Mick Fitzgerald, Denis O'Regan, 12/1 Sam Thomas, Davy Russell, 20/1 Tom Scudamore, 25/1 Bar.
Despite being made to sweat on the outcome, McCoy, who has twice been leading jockey at the festival, always expected to get the go-ahead:
"I was more or less as certain as you could be," said McCoy. "I was lucky as I saw the scans with my own doctor two weeks ago and he told me I could start riding out again.
"I've seen a lot of scans of broken bones, and it looked like it had healed very well. The doctor who operated on me was very happy and I've been riding out since."
"I'm absolutely 100 per cent, so there was no reason for me not to get passed fit."
Having not ridden competitively since fracturing two vertebrae in a fall at Warwick on January 12, McCoy is relishing his return:
"If I wasn't happy in myself, I wouldn't be ready to come back. I'm very fit and have been riding out for a couple of weeks now. I'd also been doing a lot of work before that. I've been lucky in the last two weeks to be up at Jonjo's , riding a lot of horses, and that's been a big help."
Among McCoy's strong book of Cheltenham rides are Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle favourite Aigle D'Or, the Racing Post Plate market leader Don't Push It, and Franchoek, whom he rates his best chance of the week in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, for which he is favourite.
Although McCoy has not ridden Franchoek in a race yet, he is the one he is looking forward to most. He said: "Franchoek sets a very good standard and seems to have few flaws."
Tony McCoy back just in time for the Festival