McCoy to focus on National.

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McCoy: To win National would be icing on cake


TONY MCCOY said on Tuesday that winning the John Smith's Grand National would provide "the icing on the cake" to his extraordinary feat of riding 3,000 career winners as he looked forward to fulfilling his next outstanding goal with a victory at Aintree.

McCoy, who has famously yet to win the Grand National, will have the pick of the best of JP McManus's seven entries in the race, including one of the ante-post favourites Butler's Cabin, who fell when leading atBecher's last time, and King Johns Castle, who finished second last year.

He is a 10-1 chance with Totesport to put right one of his most forgettable riding records, no win from 13 Grand National rides and only four completions, of which three finished third.

The Jonjo O'Neill-trained Butler's Cabin was allotted 10st 5lb and King Johns Castle, trained by Arthur Moore, given 10st 10lb by BHA head of handicapping Phil Smith as he unveiled the weights for the 162nd running of the historic race on April 4. The list was headed by Exotic Dancer on 11st 10lb following the scratching of Denman.

Butler's Cabin, the 2007 Irish Grand National winner, and the MouseMorris-trained Hear The Echo, the most recent winner of the race, headed the betting on 16-1.

Hobbs Hill (10st 5lb), Reveillez (10st 4lb), L'Ami (10st 3lb), Can't Buy Time (10st 1lb) and Garde Champetre (10st), also McManus-owned, arealso potential McCoy mounts, weight permitting, although the jockey will not commit at this early stage.

"The weights and what JP [McManus] wants me to be on will decide what I eventually ride in the race, but it's a long way offat the moment," he said.

"To be honest, my record in the Grand National is not great to say the least, but obviously to ride the winner in the same season as I clocked up the 3,000 would be the icing on the cake, so we shallhave to wait and see."

This year's weights features 16 horses rated 155 and above, twice the number entered last year. Comply Or Die has been allotted 10st 12lb, 3lb more than he carried to victory last year while stablemate Madison Du Berlais, conqueror of Denman, has been given 11st 8lb.

I wonder how many of our jockeys were watching when AP rode his 3000th winner? Even I, with zero interest in jumps racing, was mildly intrigued to see when he would reach the milestone. My point, though, is that conditions at Plumpton were so utterly atrocious that day that horses were actually splashing through surface water and landing in puddles!

Now I know that jumps racing is a very different animal from its flat equivalent, but any local riders watching must have had indigestion just thinking about racing in ground like that!

Magic, they could have run at Scottsville, to give them some idea?