Women are real McCoy
AP tips first female winner Punters bet on girl power
RACING legend Tony McCoy says a female jockey could make history in today’s Grand National.
And with three women lining up at the start for the first time in 20 years, many will be backing the girls for glory.
All eyes will be on Katie Walsh, 33, riding 16-1 mare Baie Des Iles, trained by her husband Ross O’Sullivan,
It is her sixth National and she knows the Aintree course like the back of her hand. But no woman has won the race in its 170-year history and the last victory for a mare was back in 1951.
The other two women riders, both making their debut in the BACKING Tony McCoy race, are Bryony Frost, 22, on Milansbar and Rachael Blackmore, 28, on Alpha Des Obeaux. Bookies have them at 33-1. It is Rachael’s mount which has caught the eye of McCoy, who won the National in 2010 on Don’t Push It. He said: “She has a great chance. Her horse is probably the classiest of the three.” Tony, better known as AP, claimed the time was right
for a woman to win, adding: “The standard of female riders is better than ever. It would be an amazing story if one won. I would go so far as to say it is the strongest chance a woman has had of winning for a long time.”
Punters are piling money on to the ultimate girl power duo of Katie Walsh and Baie Des Iles.
Worried Nicola McGeady, of bookies Ladbrokes, said: “We’re bracing for an absolute mare tomorrow. But although our liabilities have gone through the roof, it would be so special to see history made.”
Today’s showpiece will be watched by 600 million worldwide and McCoy, 43, who retired in 2015 and was knighted for services to horseracing the following year, admits he would love to be a part of it.
He said: “I don’t miss the travelling or wondering how much weight I have to lose. But I miss winning. I miss having 70,000 people cheering you on.
“No one ever asks if you have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. They ask ‘Did you ever win the Grand National?’
“It would be great if one of the girls did come in first.”