Reliability of McCoy makes him an iconic winner

As modest as they come, Tony McCoy sees his crowning as BBC Sports Personality of the Year as recognition more for the sport of racing than anything on a personal level.

The 36-year-old became the first jockey to claim the title after securing 293,152 votes, 41 per cent of the overall total of 698,242, on Sunday evening.

McCoy finished ahead of darts star Phil Taylor and heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis to be awarded the famous trophy at the climax of the annual review of the sporting year, which took place at Birmingham's LG Arena.

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"It's amazing," said McCoy. "To be in a room with as many sports stars as there was was amazing in itself, but to win such a prestigious trophy was very surreal and an unbelievable feeling.

"It's amazing to be the first jockey to actually receive the award, (particularly) when I think of how many wonderful jockeys there have been ahead of me.

"We certainly don't count ourselves as sports stars by any means, so for those obvious reasons it's very flattering to be the first winner of the award."

McCoy's title tops a landmark year for the jockey after he finally tasted victory aboard Don't Push It in the John Smith's Grand National at the 15th attempt.

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"It was something a lot of people have talked about," added McCoy.

"As a boy you try to achieve something and when you haven't done it, you want it even more.

"I was lucky this year that was put right and the Grand National would be the most famous horse race in the world and winning it was the crowning of my career really."

McCoy is already a 15-time champion jockey and while he admits he is in the twilight of his career, he is far from ready to hang up his boots yet.

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"I really enjoy what I do and I love doing it, hopefully I can keep going a bit longer yet. I'm well aware there is a lot more of my career behind me than there is in front of me, but hopefully I'll be able to enjoy it for a bit yet."

McCoy is an icon to thousands of ordinary punters up and down the land, a man to be relied upon to give his best, whether it is the Cheltenham Festival or a Monday afternoon knee-deep in mud at Plumpton.

Getting to 1,000 winners in a career in Britain seemed out of reach for jump jockeys until Stan Mellor broke the mould when reaching four figures on Ouzo at Nottingham in December 1971.

So who could possibly have thought, just over 38 years later, that figure would be tripled as McCoy bagged his 3,000th over jumps in Britain and Ireland, and with plenty more miles on the clock yet.

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He completed a career total of 1,000 winners in December 1999 and it had taken just over five years, which was more than five years quicker than the previous best. His 1,500th came just two years later.

In April 2002, McCoy overtook Sir Gordon Richards's record seasonal tally of 269 on Valfonic at Warwick, an achievement that helped him gain third place in the BBC voting of that year.

The Ulsterman has won the biggest races, too, landing the rare Cheltenham Gold Cup/Champion Hurdle double on Mr Mulligan and Make A Stand in 1997 and the King George VI Chase on Best Mate in 2002.

The crowning glory, of course, came in April this year when he broke his hoodoo in the Grand National on the Jonjo O'Neill-trained Don't Push It.

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It meant so much to McCoy on so many levels, not least that he had done it for legendary owner/gambler JP McManus, who retains his services at not insignificant cost and in whose colours he roared to victory in the Champion Hurdle a few weeks earlier on Binocular.

His father Peadar may have been a joiner by profession but, like many in the Emerald Isle, he kept a few horses "as a hobby", his 'hobby' horses having included future Cheltenham Festival winner Thumbs Up.

McCoy jnr was schooling jumpers, a job calling for strength and experience rather than youth and enthusiasm, by the age of 13 and soon realised his future lay in racing.

Brave as they come, he is a man with an iron will, and an iron constitution. That fact was never better illustrated than early in 2008.

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McCoy had been out of action since fracturing two vertebrae in a crashing fall at Warwick on January 12 and faced a serious race against time to be back to ride at the Cheltenham Festival, jump racing's showcase event.

But he went to extreme lengths to ensure his recovery, including spending time enduring temperatures of minus 150C during Kriotherapy treatment. Sure enough, he made it back with a few days to spare.

It had looked like one race he would not win. We should have known better, of course. He memorably said during his recovery: "I think I'm unbreakable so I wasn't lying there thinking the worst, you can't think like that.

"All I was thinking was how long I was going to be out and how soon I could be back on a horse again."

Unbreakable. Let's hope he stays that way.

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