'Never say die, all-action' - AP McCoy's greatest Cheltenham Festival ride AP McCoy is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys of all time and his total of 4,358 winners absolutely confirms that theory. His never say die, all-action style got many winners over the line that would have been beaten under most jockeys. McCoy’s friendly rivalry with fellow Irishman Ruby Walsh often generated some titanic clashes in plenty of big races over the years. One ride that really emphasised McCoy’s style was his victory aboard the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Wichita Lineman in the 2009 William Hill Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival. We’re going back through the history books to have a look at how it all happened. Heading into the big race as favourite Wichita Lineman was a very smart novice hurdler a couple of seasons before and he won two Grade 1 races, the first of which was the Challow Hurdle at Newbury. An even more prestigious success at the Cheltenham Festival was still to come. Stepping up to three miles for the first time, Wichita Lineman was the 11/8 favourite for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle and managed to get the job done in very good style. None of his rivals could live with him and he powered clear to score by 12 lengths. He struggled in staying hurdles the following season and his best effort came in a Class 2 race at Cheltenham, where he finished second behind Blazing Bailey. His decent course record wasn’t enough to facilitate a big run in the World Hurdle and he finished ninth. Connections decided a switch to fences was in order and he returned to winning ways with victory at Chepstow on seasonal debut. Defeat then followed next time, but he went on to score at Chepstow again and the decision was made to run him in the three-mile handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival, for which he went off as the 5/1 favourite. Victory from the jaws of defeat The famous JP McManus and AP McCoy combination was often popular among punters at Cheltenham and this time the confidence was well placed, mostly thanks to McCoy. Clearly his jockey wanted to be much more prominent in the early stages but Wichita Lineman had other ideas. The eight-year-old never travelled well for any sustained period of time during the race and victory looked almost impossible. The pair raced up against the rail throughout and he lost a significant amount of ground at the ninth and the 10th. McCoy was working overtime from that point on and forced the gelding to make up some ground before poor jumps at the fourth and third-last. AP didn’t want to get beaten that day and he continued to drive the Wichita Lineman through the field and they finally began to catch the leaders jumping the penultimate fence. Victory still looked like a pipe dream after the final fence, but the expectant Cheltenham crowd roared Jonjo O’Neill’s runner up the hill and he got his head in front in the dying strides. While most jockeys would have accepted defeat and pulled the horse up, McCoy turned certain defeat into victory and provided one of the Festival’s greatest ever rides.
