Flashback – February 24

For a few agonising moments, the crowd at Ludlow must have feared the worst.

Champion jockey Tony McCoy was in the lead in the third race of the day at the Ludlow course on the Martin Pipe-trained Northern Drums when he came down at the first fence in the Ron Traylor Plumbing Novices' Chase.

The jockey endured a sea of flailing hooves as the remainder of the field galloped over his body with at least one of the runners appearing to kick him.

It was, according to the Shropshire Star headline of the time, a "horror fall."

McCoy lay motionless while attended by medics and was stretchered off the track before being taken by ambulance to the course medical room.

But the indications were beginning to look brighter. As he was on his way, he gave the thumbs up to Star photographer Andy Cunningham.

Pipe's son David went to see how badly the racing star was hurt.

"He said to me in the medical room while they were looking at him that he didn't think he would be riding tomorrow," said David.

"He's in there in agony and all he's worried about is riding tomorrow. I just said 'what a surprise, you must be completely mad.'"

The examination showed that the injury was not as serious as had been first thought as McCoy had suffered a badly bruised right leg.

Nevertheless, he was taken to Hereford Hospital for precautionary X-rays.

His mishap at Ludlow racecourse on Tuesday, February 23, 1999, came during an already illustrious career which would bring much further glory, and has seen A P McCoy described as the greatest and most successful jump jockey of all time.

"It'll take more than that to keep me away from the Cheltenham Festival," grimaced McCoy on that day at Ludlow as he put a brave face on the injury while being stretchered into the ambulance to take him to hospital.

After being looked over there he was discharged without any serious injury.

To rub in the misfortune for McCoy, he missed out on a winner when Ballysicyos proved a clear-cut victor of the second division of the Ash Novices' Hurdle in the hands of substitute Timmy Murphy.

McCoy was not the only rider to take a tumble at that Ludlow meet. Bold Statement was looking good for victory in the Broome Handicap Chase but a final fence error unshipped Richard Johnson and handed the win to Irish amateur Kevin O'Ryan on Carlingford Gale which had been half a length down.

Nevertheless, a fall at Ludlow, or anywhere else for that matter, was nothing out of the ordinary for "A P"

By the time of his retirement in 2015 after a 23-year career which had created a legend and broken records he was estimated to have fallen from horses 1,000 times.

In doing so he had suffered a catalogue of broken bones and other injuries, but always bounced back up again.

"A P" was known by friends and rivals alike as "Champ." He had been champion jockey 20 times and had 4,357 jump racing winners.

At 5ft 10ins far taller than most jockeys, the Northern Irishman had become the first jockey to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in 2010.

It was McCoy who finally eclipsed the achievement of the great Shropshire champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards, by riding 289 winners in the 2001 to 2002 season.

Sir Gordon, who was born in Donnington Wood and was the first jockey to be knighted, had ridden to 269 victories on the flat in the 1947 season, a record that endured for so long that some thought it would never be beaten.

McCoy said breaking Sir Gordon's record was his greatest achievement, although he identified his proudest moment as winning the 2010 Grand National on Don't Push It.

He was knighted in 2016 for services to horse racing.