Don't Force It. On April 10, 2010, I made my fifteenth try riding Don't Push It, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by J. P. McManus. McCoy won his second Cheltenham Gold Cup on Synchronised, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by JP McManus, in 2012, 15 years after winning the first on Mr. Mulligan. He has also won the Irish Grand National on Two By Two and The Captain.
Tony McCoy was born on August 5, 1975 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. His family moved to Bangor when he was a child where he began riding horses at an early age. He became one of the leading jockeys in Europe during the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning the King George VI Chase on Golden Horn in 2001 and the Irish Grand National on Two By Two in 2012. In 2004 he was banned for two years by the British Horseracing Authority for testing positive for cocaine use. After returning from his suspension he went on to win another King George VI Chase in 2005 with Golden Horn.
After losing his father when he was just twenty-one years old, McCoy decided that a career in racing was not for him and took up boxing. He had some success as a boxer before switching careers again. This time he found success as a trainer beginning in 2006 when he took over training duties on Mr. Mulligan who had been successful as a racehorse before being sold.
Rum (Red) Red Rum is the only horse in history to have won the Grand National three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977. He also finished second in the two years that followed, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he finished second, 15 lengths behind the champion horse, Crisp, who weighed 23 pounds more. In 1974, Rum was awarded the prize after it was discovered that Crisp had violated weight-carrying rules by eating grass during the race. This meant that he could not be re-entered for another year. In 1977, Rum again won by a record distance of 20 lengths. He died in 1979 at the age of 24.
John Hanlan Jr. was the jockey who rode Rum throughout his three victories. The son of John Hanlan Sr., he was born in Ireland but grew up in England. He came to America when he was 18 years old and worked as an exercise rider on a horse farm before joining the United States Army in 1945. After his service, he went back to the same farm and became friends with the owner's son, who was already working there as a groom. When the son got into riding races, Hanlan decided to try his luck at riding too. He was soon promoted to assistant trainer and within a few years, became the main trainer of the farm team. In 1972, he earned $15,000 for winning the Grand National aboard Rum. That same year, John Hanlan Sr. died at the age of 68.
McCoy is also the 37th Sooner to get All-America accolades in more than one season. Following the 2008 season, he was chosen to All-America teams by The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. McCoy was selected one of four contenders for the 2009 Lombardi Award on November 10. He is a finalist for the award along with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and West Virginia wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jermaine Gresham.
The award is given to the nation's best defensive player. McCoy leads Oklahoma in tackles for loss (20) and sacks (5). He has three interceptions and two forced fumbles this year.
In addition to being named an All-American, McCoy was also voted the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by both the league's coaches and players. He is the first Sooner to win the award since Mark Simoneau in 1995. McCoy is also receiving votes in the Heisman Trophy race. He would be the third Sooner winner after Jason White in 2005 and Adrian Peterson in 2007. If he keeps up his current pace, McCoy could become the fourth player in OU history to win the Heisman Trophy and come back the following year to lead his team to another title. That group is joined by Barry Sanders (1989), White (2005) and Peterson (2007).
McCoy came back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament to play last year after winning the Heisman.
1967 Foinavon was an Irish racehorse that ran from 1958 to 1971. In 1967, he won the Grand National at 100/1 odds when the remainder of the race collapsed, refused, were hindered, or were dragged down in a brawl at the 23rd fence. In 1984, the barrier was formally named after Foinavon.
Foinavon was a rare winner at 100/1 - only three other horses have done this before or since. The first was probably Barathea in 1872, but records are incomplete and it is possible that others had done so before him. The second was Rip van Winkle in 1890, but he was trained in America and thus his record does not count for this contest.
The most recent victory at 100/1 came in 2007 with Ballynagourlle. He was followed by Kismet (200/1), Shergar (500/1), Phosphorus (5000/1), Frankel (10,000/1), Golden Lil (100,000/1), and Lord Windermere (300,000/1). No horse has ever won the Grand National twice at such huge odds.
After losing his leg in the 1967 race, Foinavon was retired to stand at Brooklands Racecourse where he produced eight more winners before being sent to Japan to compete against Japanese-trained horses.
Pocono Denny Hamlin won his first Cup Series race after starting from the pole position at Pocono. Hamlin dominated the Pennsylvania track, winning his second race from the pole position at Pocono in 2006. He also led a total of 102 laps during that race.
His first victory came in 2007 when he drove the Joe Gibbs Racing car to a win at Darlington Raceway. That same year he also finished third at Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.
He won again in 2008 at Phoenix International Raceway. That was also his only win that season as he suffered multiple accidents throughout the campaign and lost several races due to them. He returned in 2009 and won twice more before ending his season with three wins out of four races. In 2010 he didn't win any race but did finish on the podium six times.
Hamlin has been one of NASCAR's most consistent drivers over the past ten years and is a two-time winner of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He currently sits in fourth place in the point standings just five points behind leader Jeff Gordon.
When Hamlin isn't racing he makes his living modeling clothing for various brands including Nike, GoDaddy, and Coca-Cola. He has also appeared in commercials for Dodge trucks, AT&T, and Bud Light.
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