Racing Diary: An astonishing achievement indeed

The tragic death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother may have cast a dark shadow over the sport she loved so much but there is no stopping Tony McCoy and wearing a black armband as a sign of respect he powered home on three winners at Warwick to set up a new all time record of winners in a season.

The immortal Sir Gordon Richards rode an astonishing 269 winners and that has stood the test of time since 1947. It looked unbeatable indeed only seven jockeys have ever ridden more than 200 winners in a season in the history of British racing but Tony McCoy is something else and when Copeland came home first in the 4.10 race at Warwick on Tuesday it was his 270th success of the season.

Admittedly things have changed somewhat since Sir Gordon Richards set his record indeed. He achieved his total in just over seven months of the flat racing season while McCoy has taken nearly 11 months but McCoy has done it in the much more dangerous world of National Hunt racing where falls are an every day occurrence.

How McCoy has remained injury free is yet another testament to his skill of staying in the saddle and believe me I have seen him stay there when nine out of his 10 rivals would have suffered from the laws of gravity!

His immense strength is a great asset and remember this comes from a man who starves himself every day in an effort to keep his weight down low enough to ride at just over 10 stone. He hardly eats anything and spends an hour every morning in a hot bath to sweat off those precious extra ounces.

Sometimes he looks ill - like "death warmed up' was how one wag in the press room described him-but it doesn't seem to stop or deter him and he is back for more every day of the week.

Whether it's a big race at Cheltenham or a tiny race at one of the gaff tracks McCoy gives his mounts the same treatment-there is certainly no holding back and waiting for the big races.This is why he is so popular with Britains racegoers and punters who know that if McCoy is partnering their horse then they have got a big advantage.

His strike rate this season of winners to rides is 1 in 3 and that is amazing by any standards. It was very fitting that his record breaking winner should be trained by Martin Pipe who himself has set record after record in British racing and together Pipe and McCoy make an unbeatable team.

The fact that McCoy has beaten what looked an unbeatable record set by a man who was Champion Jockey an incredible 26 times makes you realise what an outstanding talent this 27 year old from Northern Ireland actually is.

I firmly believe that if National Hunt racing was on a world stage we would be talking about him in the same breath as Muhammed Ali and Tiger Woods.

Tony McCoy is so far ahead of his rivals it's embarrassing.

It would certainly be extra special if he could round off the week by winning the Grand National on Blowing Wind who surprise,surprise is trained by Martin Pipe.