This weekend's racing was marked with the retirement of champion jockey A P McCoy. The fairytale ending wasn't to be, as his final rides for boss, J P McManus both finished up 3rd. Surely with McCoy out the picture next season, it's time for Richard Johnson to pick up the award that he's shadowed for so long, second to McCoy a total of fifteen times. Quite fitting that he rode a nice double on Saturday with Menorah & Brother Tedd both obliging for the Philip Hobbs, Johnson partnership. Another notable performer from Saturday at Sandown was young Sean Bowen. At seventeen years old he proved his worth, riding a double on the day & picked up the conditional jockey award, beating Gold Cup winner Nico de Boinville by seven victories.
I really hope Richard Johnson picks up next year's champion jockey award, such a humble gentleman, playing with everyone's emotions shedding a tear after his victory aboard Brother Tedd when asked about his old pal AP McCoy. The most interesting point of all the McCoy feature was when he made a point about it being a numbers game. I felt this was a real insight into what he has done/sacrificed to carve the career that he did, & earn his place in racing history.