Soldato
Bit of a rant coming:
For many years now, i've said that Tony (AP) McCoy should win this, at least once. Day in, day out, he travels up and down the country, has multiple horse rides. Most days in the summer, he'll have 4-5 rides in the afternoon, then fly to another track, get back in the saddle for several more races, fly home, have a bath, and go to bed.
His days in the summer can be up to 21 hours long, and after such a physically demanding day, how many people would get up and do it the next day? He does. I understand there are many jockeys out there that deserve more credit than they get, but this guy wins hundreds of races every single year, even when he rides a horse that's way below standard.
What he does in the saddle is magnificent, he times runs to perfection, and ALWAYS gets the best out of a horse, no matter how little its chances of winning may be. Even after a terrible fall a few years ago left him sidelined for 3 months, he still won the jockeys' title that year, by a comfortable margin too, and he's now won 11 back-to-back jockeys titles.
This is not in any way disrespectful to any of the other contenders, as they are all fantastic athletes, but I certainly feel that this man has done a remarkable job throughout his career, and is overlooked time and again. How can Jenson Button even be compared to this guy? He's won a single race in 130 starts, no world titles to date, and his best finish is 4th in the world championship. You might argue that McCoy's title is only within Britain, and Jenson's is a worldwide affair, but being nominated for this because you won a single race just doesn't cut it for me.
Sorry for such a long post, but I really feel strongly about this, I'm hoping someone else does too
For many years now, i've said that Tony (AP) McCoy should win this, at least once. Day in, day out, he travels up and down the country, has multiple horse rides. Most days in the summer, he'll have 4-5 rides in the afternoon, then fly to another track, get back in the saddle for several more races, fly home, have a bath, and go to bed.
His days in the summer can be up to 21 hours long, and after such a physically demanding day, how many people would get up and do it the next day? He does. I understand there are many jockeys out there that deserve more credit than they get, but this guy wins hundreds of races every single year, even when he rides a horse that's way below standard.
What he does in the saddle is magnificent, he times runs to perfection, and ALWAYS gets the best out of a horse, no matter how little its chances of winning may be. Even after a terrible fall a few years ago left him sidelined for 3 months, he still won the jockeys' title that year, by a comfortable margin too, and he's now won 11 back-to-back jockeys titles.
This is not in any way disrespectful to any of the other contenders, as they are all fantastic athletes, but I certainly feel that this man has done a remarkable job throughout his career, and is overlooked time and again. How can Jenson Button even be compared to this guy? He's won a single race in 130 starts, no world titles to date, and his best finish is 4th in the world championship. You might argue that McCoy's title is only within Britain, and Jenson's is a worldwide affair, but being nominated for this because you won a single race just doesn't cut it for me.
Sorry for such a long post, but I really feel strongly about this, I'm hoping someone else does too
Calzaghe has had a hard time getting the fights, we shall see how good a boxer he is though in march (his hand should have healed by then