Is Tony McCoy the Best Jockey for Denman?
There has been a rising tide of opinion within the horse racing community that Tony McCoy might not be the jockey best suited to coax the optimum performance out of Denman.
Although under certain measurands it is not difficult to see why many think that Tony McCoy is one of the greatest jump jockeys of all time. He has been awarded the Jump Jockey Racing Championship on fourteen occasions; in fact he has held it without interruption from the 1995/96 season until the present day. He has a string of other awards and in his career he has amassed over 3,000 wins.
Surely someone as experienced and talented as McCoy would always be the ideal rider for any horse and was the natural choice for Paul Nichols to select as the rider of Denman in the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
According to some that is no longer the case. Recently Denman and McCoy parted company in the closing stages of the AON Chase. McCoy said it was the horse’s fault, and, although Denman was unable to voice his opinion on the matter, many pundits are now saying that that was not the case.
Tom Segal, the horse racing guru and writer for the Racing Post has said that McCoy was a poor choice and there were at least four other riders he would have chosen in front of McCoy. The problem, Seagal said, was in the way McCoy presented the horse to the fence, and that was said before the AON disaster. Segal says that although McCoy is good with poor horses but is no longer winning enough big races. McCoy lacks sympathy and patience and too aggressive for good horses.
Naturally there are opposite opinions. Others have pointed out that Denman has had heart problems and is on the decline having peaked some time ago.
Whatever the reason, the pairing of Denman and McCoy is not a match made in heaven. Kauto Star is now the clear favourite to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup at 9/4 with Sky Bet and the odds on Denman have lengthened to 6/1.
All odds correct at time of writing and are subject to change
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