The real McCoy

Biblical scholars say that five is the number of grace, three the number of perfection. ‘Fifteen, therefore, relates to acts wrought by divine grace.’ I don’t know if Tony McCoy was saying his prayers as his mount Don’t Push It cleared the last and headed round The Elbow for the Grand National finishing line but, like Frankie Dettori, who won his first Derby after 14 failed efforts, ‘AP’ too has now won the race that really matters at his 15th attempt. And he deserved any divine intervention that was going.

So, too, did the punters who had backed Don’t Push It all the way down from 25–1 to 10–1 favourite. That didn’t happen because of anything in the horse’s form. Only one horse in the past 25 years had carried more than 11 stone to victory and Don’t Push It carried 11st 5lb. Only seven of the last 50 favourites had won and, although he has a touch of class, Don’t Push It is a quirky, unsociable individual who spends most of his time out in a field with sheep and never runs two races alike.