McCoy ends long wait for Grand National win and quickly targets repeat at Aintree

In a decision that will relieve his legions of followers who won 50m in a sustained, and successful, public gamble on Don't Push It, the soon-to-be

15-times champion jockey had three rides at lowly Southwell yesterday and has no intention of quitting after landing the biggest victory in an unsurpassed career.

"Unfortunately I'm one of those people that very much lives in the future and not the past," said the triumphant jockey who has more than 3,000 career winners to his name.

"I'd love to have a go at winning the Grand National again next year but I went to Southwell (yesterday) for three rides, so that brought me back to earth pretty quickly."

McCoy's magical triumph on a previously unheralded horse was akin to the struggles of Flat legends Sir Gordon Richards and Frankie Dettori before they finally won the Epsom Derby.

For a wider sporting perspective, Sir Stanley Matthews's long wait for a FA Cup winners' medal which finally came to an end in the 1953 final against Bolton is another worthy comparison.

McCoy, 36, has had some rotten luck at Aintree in the past. On Saturday, it was his great friend and rival Ruby Walsh who had the misfortune to suffer a broken arm 90 minutes before the National and miss out on the ride on Big Fella Thanks, the 10-1 joint favourite with Don't Push It.

Yet, as the whole of racing cheered McCoy home, in contrast to the near-silence that greeted 100-1 outsider Mon Mome 12 months previously, Walsh's father Ted was among the first to embrace the champion. The result meant as much to him as the conquering hero.

And, having previously said that winning the National was not a concern, McCoy's tears of joys showed that the world's greatest race did matter to National Hunt racing's greatest jockey.

"I'm being a big wuss. It means everything to me to win," McCoy told journalists after receiving a standing ovation walking into the post-race press conference.

"Everyone on the street knows the National as it is a people's race and, from a jockey's perspective, that is why it is important.

"At least I can think that I've sort of done alright as a jockey now.

"My two-and-a-half year-old daughter Eve is more into Ruby Walsh than me. I thought at Christmas that it was because he looked like Santa but she still talks a lot about Ruby.

"Hopefully this win should give her something to be proud about in years to come."

Bafflingly overlooked in the past as BBC Sports Personality of the Year, McCoy is now 10-1 to lift the prize this year. His reaction? "Never heard of it," said the champion before weighing out to ride Amuse Me in Aintree's finale.

Surprisingly, the horse was last. For once, McCoy did not mind. For, finally, this national treasure – arguably Britian's most successful sportsman ever – had reached his destiny.

And, for the first time in 15 years, he left Aintree a contented man as he returned home to his daughter's loving embrace.

FINAL PLACINGS IN THE GRAND NATIONAL

1st Don't Push It

(10-1 joint-favourite)

2nd Black Apalachi

(14-1)

3rd State of Play (16-1)

4th Big Fella Thanks

(10-1 joint-favourite)

5th Hello Bud

6th Snowy Morning

7th Character Building

8th Cloudy Lane

9th Tricky Trickster

10th Joe Lively

11th Cerium

12th Comply Or Die

13th Piraya

14th Preists Leap