Tony McCoy was back doing what he does best yesterday, riding his first two winners since being crowned the 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. McCoy had become the first jockey ever to lift the coveted television trophy, just under 48 hours earlier and after one day of interviews and enforced rest due to the freeze, he returned for a distinctly unglamorous afternoon of all-weather bumpers at Kempton.
Rather than risking his already battered frame with potential falls ahead of the William Hill King George VI Chase meeting on Boxing Day, in which the Ulsterman reckoned his ride would "probably be Albertas Run", this was an opportunity to perfect his timing on the Flat.
The meeting was roundly welcomed by trainers, with the specially-arranged two-mile Polytrack races allowing winning jumpers and hurdlers to take part when otherwise they would be cooped up in their stables. McCoy took a daring path up the inside rail on his first winner, the Nicky Henderson-trained Blue Monster (10-1), in the boxingdayraces.co.uk "Jumpers' Bumper", before Giorgio Quercus took division one of the kempton.co.uk event with conviction. Now five, but not seen since showing smart juvenile hurdle form in the spring of 2009, the 7-4 favourite, Giorgio Quercus was not released from the McCoy grip until deep into the home straight.
"It's better than sitting at home," said the champion, in his typically matter-of-fact way. "I'd rather be here than watching it on TV. "It actually makes you appreciate how good the guys on the Flat are, you've got to have a lot of respect for them." Of Giorgio Quercus, McCoy added: "He hadn't run for a long time, but he's quite straightforward and I just wanted to make sure he finished his race." Blue Monster had crept past Paul Nicholls' 11-8 favourite Dark Lover and Henderson's assistant Tom Symonds joked: "Paul just went up to Tony and said, 'I wish I hadn't voted for you now!' "It was some ride to go up the inside. This horse has taken a bit of time to take to jumping, but this was the ideal starting point and hopefully, he can go on from that."