She’s the real McCoy!
Star jockey’s ‘fearless’ daughter dazzles in the showjumping ring – at 11
WHEN your father is the greatest jump jockey ever, you have to aim high to live up to the family name.
But Sir AP McCoy’s 11-yearold daughter Eve is already proving she is a match for the 20-time champion jockey.
The talented rider dazzled spectators as she flew around a showjumping course at a lightning pace dressed in a Superwoman costume.
Her impressive performance at the Liverpool International Horse Show last month prompted Sir Anthony, known as AP, to joke: ‘ Looks like I brought home the right baby!’
Eve was praised for her ‘fearless’ display in the fancy-dress relay event, which sees young riders pair up with celebrity showjumpers, with her team going on to finish sixth.
She cleared all the jumps on her pony Izzy at breakneck pace, while the commentator said: ‘Look at this! It’s like the Grand National – look at the speed!’
Eve, eldest child of the jockey and his wife Chanelle, sets her alarm at 6am every day to ride before school and said she will ‘keep practising until I reach the Olympics’. She said: ‘My dream is to ride in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. All I want is to get a gold medal like Nick Skelton in the Olympics because that’s the biggest showjumping competition in the world.’
Her father, 44, previously called Eve his ‘miracle’ baby when she was conceived through IVF after the Irishman was told he was infertile because of his regime of sitting in hot baths to sweat away weight.
Eve, who lives with five-yearold brother Archie at the family’s home in Newbury, Berkshire, travels across the country to take part in showjumping competitions every weekend.
Her father said: ‘She loves competing and she’s got plenty of bottle, which you can’t teach a kid. I see traits in her that I have – she’s not a great loser and she gets upset with herself. Even when it goes wrong or I shout at her, she comes back for more.’
The 20-time champion retired in 2015 after riding more than 4,300 winners. He was given an OBE in 2010 and knighted in 2016.