Being AP Page #9

getting counselling for my addiction.

Can't say I'm looking forward to it.

We know he is

retiring this season,

but he has said,

if he wins the Grand National,

he'd hop off Shut The Front Door,

pat him on the neck,

and he'd say "That's it."

He'd retire there and then.

And, really, a good name, isn't it,

Shut The Front Door. You know, it...

Shut The Front Door on your way out.

If I won it, I kind of feel, maybe,

I could justify riding for a bit longer.

But, I mean, I dream a lot and I'm not even

sure I can dream that much of a dream.

What AP does on a day to day

basis is very dangerous,

um, I think he has broken nearly

every bone in his body.

So, from the health and safety point of

view, I'm delighted that he is getting out,

and, you know, because

every day he goes to work,

he's got an ambulance following behind him.

You think

he'll have the pressure of what could be

his last ride today?

I mean,

for most of our modern racing lives,

Tony McCoy has been the man to

beat, and the man they can't beat.

It's all going to be different.

For the last 20 odd years,

I have been obsessed with what I do.

You know, I find myself in the room

looking down at lads that weren't born

when I was champion jockey, you know.

I have always hoped that I'd never

have to say those words,

that I'm retiring, I kind of wish I

kind of kept quiet.

But this was going to happen at some point.

This is the last time.

It's the last time, sweetie.

You know, so it's about how you

deal with it

and trying to deal with

it the best you can.

Four minutes, lads,

would you just forget about it?

I'd say it's the rest of my life,

the first day of the rest of my life,

and then try and make the most of it.

They're away for

the 2015 Crabbies Grand National.

Bob Ford towards

the inside followed by River Choice

and also out there is Wyck Hill.

Gas Line Boy is a faller at the first...

...and then comes Royale Knight

and Dolatulo.

Rebel Rebellion out in front,

Balthazar King is down...

AP McCoy has had a lovely run round so far,

green and yellow hoops, white cap,

just to the left of your picture.

Come on Shut The Front Door.

Come on, honey.

Rainbow Hunter

wide of Shut The Front Door

still well in touch...

How do people pass the day

that don't have jobs?

Shut The Front

Door is absolutely cruising for AP

in fourth position.

I don't know how I'd pass every day.

He's got every chance...

The Druid's Nephew slithers to the ground.

Definitely got a chance now.

I am an addict to my way of life.

I'm an addict to riding horses. I'm an

addict to winning, because it's like a drug.

There's horses falling around you,

there's not much room

and you don't get to see

much, but I suppose near the end

I suppose the adrenalin is in winning.

That's what it's all about.

It's all about winning.

Jump this one well. Jump this one well.

Many Clouds,

Shut The Front Door just dived into

Portrait King. Here's a faller there.

Shut The Front Door is second.

Saint Are is third...

I don't think in 20 years

I've ever been really content,

I didn't feel I was ever as good

as I wanted to be.

Two to jump, he's got a chance.

He's got a chance. He's got a chance.

I wish I hadn't been like that.

He's definitely got a chance now.

He's... He's definitely got a chance now.

It would be great not to

have a care in the world

or not have to worry about

if you're winning or not winning.

It's not the end of the world.

Winning in a lot of ways

is not the end of the world.

But it's the end of the world for me.

They make the long run in now

and Many Clouds still in the lead...

He wins on Many Clouds, Many Clouds

has won the National.

Now I'm starting to get it

into my thick skull that it's happened.

The end.

It happens to everyone apparently.

The end.

- Hello! How are you?

- Good. Thank you.

Hi, there.

The last fence

in sight, tomorrow,

the 4:
25 at Sandown,

so, for the last time

as a full-time jockey.

Evening, AP McCoy.

Good evening, how are you?

- Are you all right?

- I'm okay. Thanks.

Good. AP, we've got

a little surprise for you,

- I hope you don't mind.

- Okay.

Just a little bit of fun.

We've got a lovely lady

called Julia on the line.

- Now, Julia is a careers coach...

- Right.

And we wondered if you decided

to do, you know, a proper job,

not a proper job, but a different job,

uh, what you'd be good at?

Not snooker.

Definitely get this one...

The first one

is a racing car driver.

What are you going to do?

I'm not qualified to do anything.

It's what you would want to do, chef?

I can't cook.

I've never cooked in my life.

Never?

You've never cooked anything?

You don't know where the saucepans are?

Do you know

how to turn the cooker on?

- No.

- No.

I'm not talented enough

to do those things.

It's much easier to get

on the best horse, with the best trainer

and just go round the circuit

and beat everyone else.

What did your mum

want you to be when you were little?

A lot of things.

A priest was one of them, but I think...

Did you get yourself sorted?

Yeah.

- Didn't get to sleep.

- I don't think you'll get to sleep.

There's a picture for you.

I'm a total control freak.

Control is what makes you.

You know, if you lose control

you lose everything.

Every part of my life

was structured and controlled, I thought.

But I could never control getting old

and that's what got the better of me

in the end.

He was...

Obsessed about control,

control of everything in his life.

You know, with the horses he was riding,

the number of winners he was having,

controlling his weight, controlling me...

Controlling our relationship.

It, it was all about him

and he became a really selfish person.

Ladies and gentlemen,

all of us here...

I think you have to be selfish,

I think it has to be all about you.

I'm really embarrassed to say it,

but, uh, no one else in the world

was important.

What has been

quite simply an extraordinary career.

AP McCoy, today will be crowned

champion jockey

for the twentieth consecutive season.

You are showing your appreciation

for a legend of our time.

AP McCoy will now be escorted

into the paddock.

Here he is ladies and gentlemen,

the one and only AP McCoy.

I think a lot of the time

Chanelle would think that,

that I was a lot more

interested in my career

than I was in my relationship

and in some ways she was right.

Yet, in some ways she was right

which is not a good thing.

Luckily, she stuck it out.

I pinch myself every morning.

I'm a very lucky person...

That she... That she stuck with it.

You better enjoy every

minute of it, enjoy it.

It's what made me happy,

it's what I wanted to do.

Obviously there was times it drove me mad,

but in a contradictory way

it's what floated my boat.

And the more you win,

the more you want to win,

the more that the need becomes greed

and I think, I think you

have to be like that.

We saw him

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