AP McCoy launches into Cheltenham RANT in incredible outburst on live TV
AP MCCOY launched into an incredible rant live on ITV at Cheltenham today.
It comes after Declan Lavery was suspended by the British Horseracing Authority for ten days due to welfare rules.
Amateur jockey Lavery was given the ban despite guiding Jerrysback to third in Tuesday’s National Hunt Chase.
Lavery was one of three jockeys to be suspended following the race with Robert James handed a 12-day suspension and Noel McParlan eight days.
Stewards said Lavery’s mount had made tired jumping errors at the final two horses, indicating that he should have been pulled up.
And McCoy wasn’t happy with the rulings from the BHA.
“I am embarrassed by the BHA,” McCoy said on ITV's coverage of the Cheltenham Festival. “Talk about bringing racing into disrepute.
“The horse that finished third, he got 13,000 for finishing third, two horses fell at the second last, a horse’s natural instinct is to more or less pull up.
“He did that, I never thought at any stage he did the wrong thing.
“The horse was perfectly fine this morning, the horse’s welfare is not an issue.
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“My big thing is - what happens if the first and second horse had of fallen?
What was Declan supposed to do then?
“I’ve been coming to Cheltenham for 25 years. Brandon Dulcey from the BHA is obviously Australian and I don’t know what experience he has got of jump racing.
“They don’t have jump racing in Australia and they are letting people like that make the decisions.
“I have never seen as bad a decision in 25 years of coming to Cheltenham.
“Talk about bringing racing into disrepute. What about the punters who had backed him if the first two had fallen?
“It’s undependable, it’s undefendable.
“Are we going to do away with racing, then? Are we not going to have four mile races? Then what happens.
“Do what they did in Australia - they don’t have jump racing.
“Some poor owner wants to come to Cheltenham, walk into the winner’s enclosure having finished third or fourth and you want to ban them?
“It’s actually a disgrace, it’s undefendable.”