McCoy rode his first winner of his career on the Jim Bolger trained Legal Steps, in a flat race at Thurles racecourse in Ireland, on 26 March 1992 at the age of 17.

By the time McCoy recovered from his leg break, he had continued to grow taller and as a result it was decided that the best option was to become a jump jockey.

[7] McCoy had burst on the scene as a result of his first season riding in Britain and soon attracted the attention of leading trainer Martin Pipe and, then, upcoming Paul Nicholls.

McCoy joined forces with powerful trainer Martin Pipe in 1997 and between them they proved to be an exceptionally strong partnership which dominated the sport.

McCoy rode his 3000th winner at Plumpton on the Nicky Henderson trained Restless D'Artaix in the Tyser & Co Beginners' Chase on 9 February 2009.

The nearest he had in the National were three third-place finishes, in 2001, 2002 aboard Martin Pipe's Blowing Wind, and in 2006 on Jonjo O'Neill's 5-1 joint favourite, Clan Royal, who in 2005 was still travelling well when they were hampered and taken out of the race by a loose horse at Becher's Brook on the second circuit.

McCoy won the Grand National at the fifteenth attempt, on 10 April 2010 aboard Don't Push It, trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by J. P.

However, Synchronised continued running riderless, until attempting to jump the 11th fence where he fell and incurred a fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right-hind leg, which resulted in him being put down.

[13] McCoy, who spent seven nights in hospital, returned to action a month later at Ludlow and immediately opened his account for the season on the JP McManus owned horse Church Field.

[14] McCoy sealed his 4000th career win riding the Jonjo O'Neill trained Mountain Tunes, in the colours of owner JP McManus, to a hard-fought victory in the Weatherbys Novices' Hurdle at Towcester on 7 November 2013.

[15][16][17] His mount, Mountain Tunes, looked to have little chance with two hurdles to jump yet McCoy managed to get up in the final strides to beat Kris Spin ridden by Jamie Moore.

[2] On 10 June 2014, McCoy recorded his fastest ever half century of winners for a season after riding the Rebecca Curtis trained Bob Keown to victory at Worcester Racecourse.

[20] On 19 July 2014, McCoy reached a significant personal milestone by surpassing the total of 4,191 winners which friend and mentor Martin Pipe achieved as a licensed trainer before retirement in 2006.

[21] McCoy recorded winner number 4,192 by guiding the Jonjo O'Neill trained It's A Gimme to victory in the Betfred Summer Plate Listed Handicap Chase at Market Rasen Racecourse.

[22] McCoy announced live on Channel 4 after his win on Mr Mole in the Game Spirit Chase that he would retire at the end of the 2014/15 NH Season.

[24] McCoy was named 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year and in doing so became the first jockey to win the award, polling ahead of darts player Phil Taylor and Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis, who finished second and third place respectively.

[SPOTY 1] He made the final shortlist of ten for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 after surpassing the landmark total of 4000 career winners over jumps during the course of the 2013/2014 National Hunt racing season.

[33] He also has friendships with other footballers, including former Liverpool duo Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, who engaged him and Martin Pipe for Cheltenham.

[43][44] Cheltenham Festival (31) Major Nationals Other Notable Races Great Britain Ireland † A British Horse Racing record for most winners ridden in a season by a jockey (flat or jumps), beating Sir Gordon Richards' long-standing record of 269 winners set in 1947 Reference groups