Being AP Page #5

Goodwood Mirage, the far side.

We'll call that one hundred

and fiftieth for AP this season.

Lightning Rod in the centre,

to the outside is Tidal Wave...

What we can do today is just, um,

help the healing of the injury

with the injection.

- You happy with that? Yeah? Okay.

- Yeah.

Okay,

so just spin that around like that.

- You're all right there?

- Yeah.

Got to give quarter of an hour.

- All done.

- Thank you.

- Feel okay?

- Yeah.

- Sure? Take it easy.

- Absolutely.

I think he is better looking.

What do you think, Evie?

- Can you sit down?

- Yeah, yeah.

No, I'm all right now. I'm all right...

I was sore yesterday.

I've been very badly

wounded as well, you know.

I was on the ground

and I could not get a breath.

If he gave me a shot of morphine,

I'll show you the way then.

And he said to me...

He stood in the kitchen and he said to me,

"I'm going to retire at

the end of the year."

And I said to him, "What?"

And he said to me, "Yeah I'm going

to retire at the end of the year."

And then about five minutes later

he sat down and says to me,

"I'm only joking, Chanelle,

but you know what,

"I did that because I wanted to see

what it felt like, me saying,

'I'm going to retire."'

And I said to him,

"Well, how did it sit with you?"

And he said to me, "I just felt

like getting sick after I said it."

Do you know, it was...

Bye darling.

Four years.

Four years, it has to be like... 250...

Even if I ride 250 winners

in the next three years,

that three years is enough.

No, okay, anyway.

- Three years is enough, right?

- But I think we're making baby steps, Ms Pipe.

Yeah, he only said it

to know what it feels like.

I wanted to hear myself saying,

I wanted to see what it felt like.

- It didn't work.

- It didn't work. No. Okay.

You didn't like that.

And now I think I'm

invincible, so I'm all right.

Pitches, and unseats McCoy.

Gives him a tumbling fall.

And If In Doubt gave the rider no chance.

Tony McCoy had no chance.

- Hi, Chappers, how are you?

- I'm all right.

I'm well. I'm a lot better than you.

How are you?

Erm, I'm not sure whether I'm

worse physically or mentally,

but, um, neither's probably great

at the moment, to be honest.

But I suppose,

probably for the last month I've been...

Um, I've been suffering a little bit,

and obviously because that I, you know...

Obviously, I was wanting to ride

300 winners this season,

I couldn't afford to have any time off,

and, um...

Because of that, you know,

you try and keep going,

you try and keep going through it and then

I had another fall on Tuesday.

And I've been trying to get through it

and sadly I'm going to have to sit out

for a couple of weeks.

Which is not good mentally or physically,

but probably worse mentally at the moment.

I wouldn't have carried on what I did,

only that I thought

I was going to ride 300 winners,

so that's gone now.

So, that's the end of that.

- Have you packed my bags?

- This... Okay...

Remind me why I'm bringing you again?

I'm on suicide watch.

That's why.

I'm not packing for you

by the way, just so you know.

So what are the advantages

of being married to you?

Well, I've given you two

nice kids, haven't I?

Seriously.

All right. Come on.

If you want me to pack your bag, I will.

I don't actually want to go on holidays.

- Do you not?

- No.

God, Ant, talking about, like...

Wrecking my buzz, why do you not

want to go on holidays?

Well, do I need to state the obvious?

Because the only reason

you're going on holiday

- is because you're not riding.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

But you've a week now

to recharge your battery,

get your collarbone in the sun, vitamin D.

And can you just try and accept

you have an injury

and you are... You know what I mean,

that you're not just going

to be completely...

Actually, can I just ask,

you're not going to be completely

frying my head for the next week.

Because that's what'll happen.

And you know what, honey,

it's not all about you.

Since when?

It's not...

Because I have a job, I work

and it's nice for me

to get away and de-stress as well

from, on holidays,

you know?

I wonder if I just ate the whole packet,

would it help me.

No, Ant, because your liver

can only absorb so much...

You know, so much of the tablet.

Right.

How many nights are we there for?

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, Thursday...

Friday. Five nights.

You're starting to do my head in now

and we haven't even got outside the door.

I mean, I'm quite glad now

that we're settled into the house

that you have stopped

telling me to pinch myself

that I'm so lucky to be married to you.

You've been injured

every time we've been there.

Even when we went on our honeymoon,

you were in a sling.

Well...

Yeah, me collarbones.

Um, I dislocated it and it's broke as well

so I was kind of getting through it

then I got a fall on

Tuesday and I kind of...

That kind of ended it.

So we're going away in the morning,

myself and Chanelle.

Going to Barbados for a week.

I'm only going, really,

because the sun might help it.

For the first four or five days

when I was off,

I always wanted to bang

my shoulder off the walls,

you know what I mean,

'cause I was kind of thinking that

it deserves to be punished

for doing this to me.

Some part has to take the blame,

why should it be me?

I'm not the one that's being weak,

part of my body is being weak, not me.

- That was me.

- That was you?

Yeah.

That was me as well. Yeah.

I've not

seen him since he went off to Barbados,

he looks healthier now. He looks as though

the rest has done him good.

He has been severely beaten up

over the past few weeks,

he hasn't ridden since November the fifth.

Yeah, I mean,

he's had a nightmare...

The sort of run he couldn't afford.

He could

hardly walk into the room.

White as a sheet, haggard.

For example,

Muhammad Ali had a great chin,

no one ever knocked him out.

AP has got an amazing pain threshold.

And he's proud of it.

This was one of his last great frontiers,

the 300 winners in a season.

AP McCoy!

Another incredible time, it seems

you are going from strength to strength.

Yeah, it's going well but, you know,

though as I say,

just hopefully keeping it going,

that's the thing, isn't it,

you know, making your job as hard

as possible because you've been struggling

pretty much all night, you know,

with your interviews,

that say "I'm not sure whether you'll be

back or not, will you?"

No, no, you're absolutely fine, you can

keep talking as long as you want.

I'm off, best of luck, thanks.

When are you going to hang your coat up?

Ah, look, as you said, you're only as good

as your luck. Well, I was going to say,

you're only as good as your last

winner. In your case,

you're only as good as your last haircut.

And in your case, I don't know

what the f*** you're still doing here.

Ladies and gentlemen, AP McCoy!

Alan, what do

you think in his mind, is the benchmark

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