It’s November, so let the racing fraternity roll out their annual passionate plea for Tony McCoy to be nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
But what chance has he got? A reserved Irishman who quietly dominates his sport year-in, year-out against the likes of Jenson Button, Formula 1 world champion, photographed in the newspapers with gorgeous women, promoting designer clothes and generally acting the good guy.
Or how does our man square up to David Haye, the new heavyweight boxing champ? He is David, he beat Goliath. How much more of a fairytale do you want? He used to be a model and has a sense of humour that is bred into any cockney.
The problem is that McCoy’s still not a household name. Everyone knows a jockey called Frankie Dettori and, yes, he’s won the championship before but not nearly as many times as his National Hunt counterpart.
So we’ve got to ask ourselves why nobody knows McCoy. Is it because the Italian is in the mainstream media; captaining a team on A Question of Sport, opening his own restaurant, releasing his own brand of food (it never took off but we’ll overlook that).
Given the choice, I’m sure McCoy would rather win another championship rather than some popularity contest and one would have to be sacrificed to win the other. It’s a Catch-22 situation.
Winning a championship requires regular winners and this can’t be done if you’re swanning about on Ready, Steady, Cook or wearing the silver condom outfit on Hole in the Wall. But if you want the general public to get to know you, you must go on these types of shows and get your face regularly seen on the box, like Frankie has done in the past.
McCoy is, in a kind way, a nutcase - single-minded and determined to ride as many winners he can and he’d rather go to Bangor in the rain than the BBC.
Anyway, McCoy’s best chance of winning SPotY have passed. Racing is not a priority for the BBC anymore after they reduced the number of broadcasted fixtures, so it is unlikely that they are going to nominate a man who is from a sport they’re trying to shove in the corner.
But this could be leading to a bigger picture of racing’s own future.
With the Derby now kicked off television’s ‘crown jewels’ - sporting events that, by law, must be shown on terrestrial channels - will there be a time when racing is only available to watch via satellite?
Channel Four Racing has had it’s rocky patches and it’s clear that watching racing isn’t a priority for the majority of the population of Great Britain.
Tony McCoy and racing could be on the same path - ticking along without Joe Bloggs giving a damn.
But what chance has he got? A reserved Irishman who quietly dominates his sport year-in, year-out against the likes of Jenson Button, Formula 1 world champion, photographed in the newspapers with gorgeous women, promoting designer clothes and generally acting the good guy.
Or how does our man square up to David Haye, the new heavyweight boxing champ? He is David, he beat Goliath. How much more of a fairytale do you want? He used to be a model and has a sense of humour that is bred into any cockney.
The problem is that McCoy’s still not a household name. Everyone knows a jockey called Frankie Dettori and, yes, he’s won the championship before but not nearly as many times as his National Hunt counterpart.
So we’ve got to ask ourselves why nobody knows McCoy. Is it because the Italian is in the mainstream media; captaining a team on A Question of Sport, opening his own restaurant, releasing his own brand of food (it never took off but we’ll overlook that).
Given the choice, I’m sure McCoy would rather win another championship rather than some popularity contest and one would have to be sacrificed to win the other. It’s a Catch-22 situation.
Winning a championship requires regular winners and this can’t be done if you’re swanning about on Ready, Steady, Cook or wearing the silver condom outfit on Hole in the Wall. But if you want the general public to get to know you, you must go on these types of shows and get your face regularly seen on the box, like Frankie has done in the past.
McCoy is, in a kind way, a nutcase - single-minded and determined to ride as many winners he can and he’d rather go to Bangor in the rain than the BBC.
Anyway, McCoy’s best chance of winning SPotY have passed. Racing is not a priority for the BBC anymore after they reduced the number of broadcasted fixtures, so it is unlikely that they are going to nominate a man who is from a sport they’re trying to shove in the corner.
But this could be leading to a bigger picture of racing’s own future.
With the Derby now kicked off television’s ‘crown jewels’ - sporting events that, by law, must be shown on terrestrial channels - will there be a time when racing is only available to watch via satellite?
Channel Four Racing has had it’s rocky patches and it’s clear that watching racing isn’t a priority for the majority of the population of Great Britain.
Tony McCoy and racing could be on the same path - ticking along without Joe Bloggs giving a damn.
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