McCoy welcomed home after Grand National triumph
Hundreds of race fans welcomed first-time Grand National winner Tony McCoy and his horse Don’t Push It back home to their stables today.
The 14-time champion jockey said he “always hoped” he would one day win the world’s greatest steeplechase.
McCoy was accompanied by trainer Jonjo O’Neill, who said he had dreamed of winning the race since he was a child.
The winning team’s dreams were fulfilled yesterday, as McCoy finally conquered the four-and-a-half mile course at Aintree, Liverpool.
With the final fences in sight McCoy, 35, from Northern Ireland, burst through for a fairytale victory as 10/1 joint favourite.
At a homecoming parade in Ford, Gloucestershire, near trainer O’Neill’s stables, McCoy, 35, accompanied by his wife Chanelle and two-year-old daughter Eve, was greeted with rapturous applause.
Eve waved a banner with “my daddy’s the world’s greatest jockey” written on it, as McCoy petted the winning horse.
“I’ve been trying to win the Grand National for years, so to finally win it is surreal,” McCoy said. “Don’t Push It is the greatest horse, in my mind, and will always have a special place in my heart.”
McCoy has had to wait 15 years to win the biggest event in the racing calendar, despite winning thousands of races in a glittering career.
He went on: “I don’t know if it will ever sink in, the emotions are surreal. I always dreamed and hoped I would win the Grand National.”
Racegoers and armchair punters staked millions of pounds on the race, and the betting industry reported losses of around £10 million after McCoy’s victory.
Punters piled the cash on Don’t Push It at 20/1 in the hours leading up to the race, leading to bookmakers slashing the odds to make the horse joint favourite at 10/1 by the time the steeplechase got underway.
Today, O’Neill said the win was only just sinking in.
He said: “It was just fantastic. It’s a strange feeling, and is only just sinking in. It was a magical moment.
“It was something when you were a kid you would dream about. You want to ride in it, but to actually win it at the end of the day is just fantastic.”
