Sir AP McCoy defends Jonbon and reflects on a dramatic Cheltenham Festival

Sir AP McCoy has told William Hill that he believes Jonbon’s stellar reputation has been unfairly tarnished after he was unable to break his Cheltenham Festival duck last week.

Speaking to fellow William Hill ambassador Nick Luck and reflecting on the week at Prestbury Park, McCoy said that he believes Jonbon’s standing has been unjustly derided after defeat yet again at the Festival:

“Jonbon is going to be tarnished with not liking Cheltenham, which I think is total rubbish. If he had of been upsides the leaders from the start, he wouldn’t have made that mistake – I promise you.

“His concentration levels are so much better when he’s upsides a horse. When he’s got horses in front of him, he takes his eye off the ball, and that’s more of a fact than an opinion.”

Champion hurdle controversy: Should the Festival be shortened?

The Champion Hurdle was the topic of much debate last week after Lossiemouth defected to the Mares’ Hurdle instead, with McCoy positing that a three-day Festival might prevent such events happening in the future:

“The Mares’ Hurdle takes away from the Champion Hurdle, and I don’t think it would be a problem if we had a three-day Festival.

“You can’t blame Willie Mullins, Paul Townend or Rich Ricci for running Lossiemouth in it. Cheltenham have given them that opportunity, so they’re going to take it.”

And reflecting back on the Champion Hurdle itself, McCoy was as stunned as rest of the racing world:

“It was a crazy Champion Hurdle. Watching it live, I was thinking ‘is this really happening?’. If somebody had told you that two previous Champion Hurdle winners were going to fall in a Champion Hurdle, you wouldn’t have believed it.

“Why did they fall? Well, Constitution Hill stood off a mile from the hurdle, got no height - literally a foot off the ground - and was a bit flippant.

“I don’t think Nico [de Boinville] had much choice in the matter. That said, Tommy Carberry once said to me that if you end up on your backside, you’re always wrong.

“Paul Townend ended up on his backside too and he won’t be happy about that, but it’s hard to say he was at fault.

“When it happens, it happens. Would he like to have another go? Of course he would.”

Fact To File’s future: A Gold Cup contender?

Fact To File was arguably the most impressive winner of the entire Festival, and McCoy discussed whether he should’ve gone for the Gold Cup instead, and what the future might hold for him:

“We always thought Fact To File was a Gold Cup horse waiting to happen. He won the John Durkan but then got put in his place by Galopin twice, so dropping back in trip for the Ryanair seemed like the right thing to do.

“The way he won the Ryanair, you’d have thought he had loads left for a Gold Cup trip.

“It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he could go for the Punchestown Gold Cup, and then next year you’d think about whether he’s a King George horse.

“If he goes to Kempton, then it could be all about the Gold Cup after that. He might be an Allaho type, though, where the Ryanair trip is just right for him, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

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