Sir Anthony McCoy: Deano's Beeno got the best out of me - I loved him

Multiple champion jockey Sir Anthony McCoy fondly remembered Deano’s Beeno as a character who challenged every rider to be at their best when partnering him, after the enigmatic Grade 1 winner died aged 28.

McCoy also praised Deano’s Beeno, labelling him a fine ambassador for racing with the public after he became a mascot for the Greatwood charity and a regular feature at racecourses and events across the country.

Having initially started his career on the Flat with Mark Johnston, Deano’s Beeno excelled once switched to jumps under the care of Martin Pipe, winning 12 of his 35 races over hurdles and fences.

The most memorable of those was the 2002 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, where he made all in gloomy conditions under McCoy to defeat the supreme stayer Baracouda by a length for the Axom syndicate.

Deano's Beeno being led by Sue McCormick at GreatwoodCredit: Edward Whitaker

McCoy said: “He got the best out of whichever jockey rode him – he certainly got the best out of me – and he always challenged you.

“He was a great little horse and when you’re going out and beating a horse of the calibre of Baracouda, that gives you as much satisfaction as winning any race – he beat a champion and that’s such a fulfilling thing. He did a lot for racing and was a very popular and well-known horse. He was very friendly and a proper character too.”

The Ascot performance stood out for Pipe, who recalled Deano’s Beeno as a characterful horse but one who he enjoyed training.

“It was a great race when he beat Baracouda,” Pipe said. “There was no way in the world he could win that race, but AP rode a great race that day and it gave us a real thrill.

“We really had some good fun with him and he won a lot of good races for us – he was even unbeaten over fences.

“He was a character, like a lot of horses are, but he was an easy horse to train and a kind horse. People liked him and he was a real favourite around the place.”

Deano's Beeno in the yard at GreatwoodCredit: Edward Whitaker

Deano's Beeno, having raced since two, became increasingly cranky as he got older, though his notoriety probably won him even more fans and enhanced the legend.

McCoy experienced that recalcitrance first-hand, and received a ban from Cheltenham stewards on New Year’s Day in 2004 when Deano’s Beeno proved difficult at the start.

McCoy said: “He was called a lot of names and I got banned on him one day for giving him a slap down the shoulder at the start at Cheltenham. A lot of people thought I didn’t like him because of that but I loved him.

“He beat one of the best staying hurdlers there has been in Baracouda and was a talented horse, make no mistake.”

Upon his retirement in 2004, Deano’s Beeno was sent to Greatwood to be retrained, although the charity’s founder Helen Yeadon soon came to realise that a crowd and considerable attention suited her new arrival more than a traditional retraining programme.

Yeadon said: “Clearly, he had his own ideas as to his retirement. He paraded at many racecourses and events over the years. He had a signature strut, knew that eyes were upon him, feted cameras and loved every moment of it. Indeed, sometimes it was difficult to get him out of the parade ring.

“Everything was on his terms. This included where he was stabled, what food he was going to accept, which horse was going to be stabled next to him, which field suited him best and so on.

“For the 17 years he was with us, pretty much the world revolved around him, he knew it, we knew it and he shall be greatly missed, not least by me. Out of all the hundreds of horses I have looked after he was my favourite, largely because he made me chuckle and I admired his great intelligence.”

Deano's Beeno: a brilliant career

28 age
176 highest RPR
57 runs
13 wins
100% strike-rate over fences (1-1)
£268,447 earnings
2-9-94 date of first run
1-4-04 date of last run
2 trainers
1 Grade win
6 Grade 2 wins

Three of the best

Long Distance Hurdle (Grade 2), Newbury, November 27, 1999
Deano’s Beeno and Sir Anthony McCoy – or plain old Tony McCoy as he was called in the Post back then – started favourite at Newbury to beat eight rivals, the best of whom looked to be Anzum and Moorish. They were to fill third and fourth, with other fancies Silver Wedge and Go-Informal failing to land a blow and pulled up, as Deano’s Beeno and McCoy ran their rivals ragged from the front. ‘Made all’ and ‘unchallenged’ were frequently in-running comments for Pipe/McCoy horses but more often at the likes of Taunton and Newton Abbot than Newbury.

Premier Hurdle (Grade 2), Doncaster, January 27, 2001
October Mist and Merry Masquerade looked the dangers to Deano’s Beeno on his one and only run at Doncaster over hurdles. Rodi Greene was in the saddle this time and, while Deano’s Beeno was not able to lead from flagfall, he was in command after the fourth flight and from that point sauntered further and further clear, winning by 30 lengths. The performance earned him a Racing Post Rating of 176, one of three occasions he was to hit that mark.

Long Walk Hurdle (Grade 1), Ascot, December 20, 2002
In a big irony, given that on 11 of the 13 occasions he won he started favourite, and as short as 2-9, with his only other win coming at 100-30, the one victory at the highest level of Deano’s Beeno’s memorable career came as an unconsidered 14-1 shot, just before Christmas 18 years ago. Baracouda was hot favourite to see off four rivals and looked like prevailing two out, when getting to the front-running Deano’s Beeno, but our hero had got out of bed the right side that morning and responded gamely to McCoy’s urgings to see off the formidable French raider by a length and bring the house down.

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