Hi °C | Lo °C In a wry sort of way, the name of the horse who carried Richard Johnson to his 2,000th career success at Newbury was entirely fitting.
Fighting Chance was the beast who delivered the landmark but, although the man from Herefordshire will keep fighting in his pursuit of the one laurel yet to elude him, the jump jockeys' championship, while one Tony McCoy is around he has no chance.
Johnson is only the second rider in his sport's history to reach yesterday's total, after McCoy, who left it behind five years ago and stormed past 3,000 winners in February.
He has been second in the title race 11 times in the past 12 seasons, to McCoy. Just about the only milestone he reached before his great rival and good friend, was the magic first winner. Johnson's came on Rusty Bridge in April 1994; McCoy launched his tally in September the same year.
By any standard bar one, though, Johnson can be judged one of the finest jump jockeys ever to have grasped a pair of reins. And he appreciated the fact that it was McCoy who was back in second place as Fighting Chance, trained by Richard Lee, sealed his place as the answer to a quiz question in the handicap chase.
Johnson, 32, reached 1,999 at his local track on Sunday, then had to be patient after his sole ride on Monday finished last and Tuesday's chances at Folkestone were frozen off. “It was getting a bit frustrating,” he said, “and think AP was just being nice to me not going past me on the run-in.”
McCoy, who actually did his utmost to thwart Johnson's big moment, was the first to congratulate his colleague and, as they rode back towards the unsaddling enclosure together, the broad smiles of both men, comrades-in-arms in an uncompromisingly tough sport and professionals at the top of their game, warmed the sort of cold, bleak, soggy winter afternoon that is sometimes mystifyingly called good jumping weather.
