The AP effect: Adrian Maguire credits McCoy with altering jockeys' mindsets

Legendary former jockey Adrian Maguire believes the weighing room has become a more professional place than it was in his day – and has credited 20-time champion Sir Anthony McCoy for the change in mindset among riders.

Maguire, said by many to be the greatest jockey never to be champion, retired 20 years ago this winter as the long-term impact of a fall at the 2002 Cheltenham Festival became clear. Marking the anniversary in a major interview in Sunday's newspaper, he recalls some of the great names he rode, including Viking Flagship, Barton Bank and Florida Pearl, his astonishing title battle with great rival Richard Dunwoody in the 1993-94 season and his disappointment at having to give up on a subsequent training career.

At the time of his retirement, Maguire was sixth in the list of winningmost jump jockeys of all time. Now his tally of 1,083 winners, accumulated in just over a decade of brilliance, doesn't get him into the top 20, a sign of how much the weighing room has changed with jockey's fitness regimes and diets helping them to last a lot longer.

"It's gone more professional, isn't it?" Maguire said. "We all know the stories from back in the day, and it was the same with the rugby players, not getting in until all hours and still producing man-of-the-match performances for Ireland, but it's not like that anymore. There's an argument for it too.

"Ruby Walsh, AP McCoy, Noel Fehily, Dickie Johnson – they were all into their 40s when they retired. Look at Davy Russell now. I suppose when someone like McCoy passes through, he is going to leave his mark on the younger generation coming up, and he was just completely dedicated.

"Being honest, I wouldn't say I was ever a dedicated jockey in that sense, but I loved horses and loved riding horses. I just got on them and rode them, you know?"

All-time classic: Martha's Son (left), Viking Flagship (centre) and Deep Sensation jump the last in the 1995 Melling Chase

Maguire particularly loved riding Viking Flagship and was on board for the dual Champion Chase hero's most thrilling triumph in the 1995 Melling Chase at Aintree.

"That was Viking Flagship in his pomp," he said. "We were all flat out turning in. Deep Sensation, Martha's Son and himself – jeez, they were three right horses – and he got up on the nod, brave as a lion. And he used to run. He'd get plenty of it before Cheltenham and then he'd go to Aintree and Punchestown as well. An incredible horse."

Read more from Adrian Maguire in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up

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