McCoy gets all-clear

Tony McCoy is counting down the hours to the Cheltenham Festival after being given the all-clear to resume riding from Saturday onwards.

The 12-times champion jockey in Britain needed surgery after fracturing two vertebrae in a fall from Arnold Layne in the Classic Chase at Warwick on January 12th.

McCoy received a positive verdict on his recovery from his surgeon last week, but had to wait for clearance from the British Horseracing Authority following an independent review on Thursday night.

Despite being made to sweat on the outcome, McCoy stressed he was always expecting to get the go-ahead.

"I was more or less as certain as you could be," he said.

"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% so there was no reason for me not to get passed," he told At The Races.

McCoy´s therapy has been aided by kriotherapy treatment, which involves stepping into a compressed compartment in which temperatures drop to around minus-130 degrees to improve blood circulation.

His recovery stepped up a gear over a week ago as he resumed riding work for Carl Llewellyn and Jonjo O´Neill.

However, British Horseracing Authority chief medical officer, Dr Michael Turner, asked for an independent assessment from specialist Peter Hamlyn, who saw McCoy on Thursday evening.

Hamlyn´s report charting McCoy´s progress was enough to satisfy Dr Turner to give him the thumbs-up.

"He´s in the middle of a rehab programme, but as far as we are concerned he can start to get back to race-riding from Saturday onwards," said Dr Turner.

"He´s coming along nicely and as he´s been riding out for a while now, he can now progress to the next stage - which is race-riding."

McCoy will take the reins aboard Rapid Increase and Tarlac at Sandown on Saturday.

Unsurprisingly the Co. Antrim-born jockey is relishing the chance to get back in the plate four days before the start of the Festival.

"To be honest, if I wasn´t happy in myself I wouldn´t be ready to come back," he added.

"I´m very fit and have obviously 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. I feel 100%."

McCoy will also be in action at Hereford on Sunday, where he has been booked to ride O´Neill´s Maremotto.