McCoy criticism wholly unjustified
When 15-time champion jockey Tony McCoy stepped in for the plum ride on odds-on favourite Kauto Star in last week’s William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, he was on a hiding to nothing, whether he won or not, writes Elliot Slater.
McCoy had never ridden the 11-year-old gelding in a race before but had been down to Ditcheat to put the four-time King George winner through his paces in a schooling session. In an ideal world Ruby Walsh would have taken the ride, but Walsh has been on the sidelines since breaking his leg in a fall at Down Royal in early November and was never going to recover in time to be involved. Noel Fehily was the next man in the pecking order and would surely have been on board had he not sustained a wrist injury that may exclude him from action for the rest of the season.
So champion trainer Paul Nicholls turned to McCoy, the outstanding jockey of his generation, to try and complete the fabulous five-timer on the great Clive-Smith-owned superstar. Although he travelled well enough on the first circuit, Kauto Star was clearly under pressure after the fifth last and McCoy was busy trying to keep the favourite in contention, chasing the front-running Nacarat and the eventual impressive winner Long Run. That he managed to drive the horse into second place two out was testament to McCoy’s determination and the willingness of his equine partner, but a dreadful mistake (from which McCoy performer wonders to recover) sealed his fate and he eventually weakened into third.
Kauto Star bled slightly after the race and has been found to have been suffering from an infection. He was a sick horse, so his achievement in finishing third is certainly commendable. Calls for Nicholls’ great warrior to be retired are ridiculous and criticisms of McCoy by armchair jockeys who have never thrown a leg over a horse are quite absurd. Anyone who has placed a Cheltenham bet on Kauto Star shouldn’t be too worried as the horse is still set to go in the Gold Cup and Nicholls believes he can still make an impression.
Kauto Star is getting older and he can’t win them all, but he is still a high-class performer and McCoy is still arguably the greatest jockey of all time.
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