Towcester now the focus for McCoy and the magic 4,000

TONY McCoy heads to Towcester today needing just one more victory to hit the incredible 4,000-winner milestone after another dramatic day chasing down the landmark.

After the aptly-named Mission Complete was withdrawn from Chepstow yesterday by trainer Jonjo O’Neill, the 18-time champion switched to stablemate Minella For Steak and produced a riding masterclass to secure an improbable 3,999th career win.

McCoy, 39, has two chances to reach the milestone at the Northamptonshire venue today when he gets the leg-up aboard Church Field at 2.10pm before partnering Mountain Tunes an hour later.

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Church Field, owned by JP McManus, won four consecutive races this summer, but has been unplaced on his last two outings at Newton Abbot and Cheltenham.

Mountain Tunes, an Irish point-to-point winner in March, is also owned by McManus and will be making his British debut on his first start for O’Neill.

McCoy’s bookings this week indicate that he is determined to record his 4,000th winner on a horse trained by O’Neill and owned by McManus.

Both men have been instrumental in the career of the record-breaker and were responsible for McCoy’s 2010 Grand National win on Don’t Push It and his 2012 Gold Cup triumph on Synchronised.

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“It would be great if one of them won. For my riding career, the sooner the better that one of them wins so I can get on with trying to have a few winners,” said McCoy.

After El Macca was unplaced at Chepstow, McCoy feared a second successive blank day before he made the switch to Minella For Steak, who had ben the mount of 10lb claimer James Huxham.

That the horse still won, even without the benefit of Huxham’s weight advantage, is testament to the jockey to get the best out of every horse.

Minella For Steak travelled well throughout the three-mile heat, McCoy opting to take it up before the second-last flight and he looked virtually assured of victory.

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However, Heronshaw threw down a late challenge and he was on terms at the last, only for Minella For Steak to dig deep and push on again to win by three-quarters of a length.

“He’s amazing this horse, because he really struggles to breathe,” explained a slightly flabbergasted champion. “He’s been running on better ground and he’s won twice now on the heaviest ground possible.

“We’re all supposed to be experts in this game and if anyone was riding him, or had anything to do with him, you wouldn’t believe he could win on this ground. I’m glad that Jonjo let me ride him. I had to ring him and ask.”

Trainer Colin Tizzard is relishing a tilt at Haydock’s Betfair Chase on November 23 with Cue Card following his surprise defeat in Tuesday’s Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter.

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Last season’s Ryanair Chase hero finished a creditable third to Somersby, ridden by Guiseley’s Dominic Elsworth, after conceding upwards of a stone to each of his opponents.

Tizzard said: “He’s absolutely fine and he just got a bit tired at the end.

“He was giving all that weight away and we’ve all seen it happen before haven’t we? The main thing is he trotted out lovely this morning, which means we can look forward to the Betfair.”

Cue Card, meanwhile, is one of 30 entries for the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

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The field is headed by Nicky Henderson’s dual winner Long Run who was a major disappointment in Wetherby’s bet365 Charlie Hall Chase last Saturday.

Kim Bailey’s Charlie Hall winner Harry Topper is among those to have provisional entries while Al Ferof is an intriguing entry for Paul Nicholls after injury.

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