Whip are up!© Photo Healy Racing
The word 'historic' is often mauled into meaninglessness but the next five days truly could be truly significant as Tony McCoy continues his countdown to retirement. He has already stated victory in Saturday's Aintree National will see him pack it in. So the opportunity for Irish race fans to watch one of racing's seminal figures in action at Fairyhouse this Easter should be irresistible. We really won't see his like again.
Countless words have been employed to describe the scale of McCoy's achievements. He is a sporting phenomenon in terms of success and a marvel of physical and psychological resilience. Even sceptics regarding his credentials for 'GOAT' status - and it remains noticeable how cross-channel reverence for his abilities isn't replicated behind the scenes here - can't quibble with the view that no one has got more out of themselves.
If it has looked awfully ascetic at times, McCoy, like Piggott in his pomp, is someone who can claim to have fundamentally altered the face of his profession, both in terms of how it is viewed from the outside, but more crucially in terms of the levels of professionalism from the inside. The cartoon representation of the cavalier steeplechase jockey flying by the seat of his pants both in and out of the saddle is well and truly gone.
You get the feeling that if he doesn't win the Aintree National McCoy might not be as crushed as normal: it would at least allow him to continue until the end of the British season a couple of weeks later and there's little doubt he's still enjoying the challenge as much as ever. Certainly there's been no question of any sign of his commitment dropping in the weeks since announcing he would be going.
Considering the old jockey adage was to get out immediately once thoughts turned to retirement, such commitment has beggared belief at times, but the only surprise really is anyone being surprised by that. McCoy has always been different. So let's make the most of him while we still can.
If he should win the Aintree National then the scenes will dwarf even that famous Don't Push It success. It would be the perfect career denouement for McCoy and a perfect PR story for those in charge at Aintree. Normally such 'flim-flam' considerations can be safely parked to the side but not with the world's most famous steeplechase.
That the Grand National is simultaneously both racing's greatest advertisement and a PR headache waiting to happen has long been part of its narrative. Even AP McCoy can't alter that.
Years of collective angst over horse welfare appears to have eventually come up with a race that is far removed from the test of yore but still retains enough of that lottery element vital to the National's general appeal.
The last three winners have returned 25-1, 66-1 and 33-1 SP's. It's a decade since the last outright favourite won - Hedgehunter - so the overall trend hardly backs up fears that changes to the fences would dilute the National's drama.
The PR headache comes from the inherent danger and unpredictability in the race, and the fact it is the one time in the year when the mass public pays attention to racing.
At this stage, the sport really should be able to present itself to the world confident enough in its basic product to argue convincingly against any flak that comes with increased attention over welfare.
The chink in the armour though continues to be the whip, and as the rules stand in Britain, it is always an issue with the potential to blow up in racing's face.
Torn between criticism that officials have their hands tied in terms of totting up strikes, and a fear that too much discretion will simply allow cop-outs, the result is an illogical shambles where breaking some rules counts towards disqualification but others don't. A rare piece of whip unanimity however appears to be that disqualifying horses whose jockeys have broken the whip rules would lead to catastrophically farcical scenes.
If say in this Saturday's National, the argument goes, the first three had to be thrown out and the fourth past the post wound up the winner it would be a nightmare scenario. And it would be nightmarish too - once.
Jockeys know the rules better than anyone. And their riding reflects what they know they can get away with. There is overwhelming evidence that any amount of suspensions or fines have little or no impact on riding behaviour. If the prize is big enough, jockeys will take one for the team.
If the penalty doesn't outweigh the potential reward, nothing will change. That has to be reversed. And logically that means disqualification, which probably requires at least one 'nightmare' to happen for the message to percolate through.
The belief it would lead to long-term anarchy presumes jockeys aren't bright enough to adapt to a new reality which is actually in their self-interest to master as quickly as possible. There's as much condescension there as there is in decisiveness, and the result is more pussy-footing around.
What's fundamentally required is for jockeys to know that breaking the rules isn't worth it. But that means going through a short period of awkward and potentially embarrassing acclimatisation that requires a level of spine at the top which doesn't seem to exist. The result will be more long-term headaches for fear of short-term embarrassment.
It's hardly embarrassing that there has been no Irish trained National winner since Silver Birch in 2007 but even allowing for how six winners in nine years (1999-2007) was freakish, the gap is starting to get noticeable, especially since there's hardly a stand-out proposition among the raiders this time.
Maybe it simply indicates how so much actually does come down to finances, and how that unprecedented run simply coincided with the Celtic Tiger's pomp.
