McCoy's final furlong

McCoy will be very relieved after his 270th winner

By BBC Sport Online's Sophie Brown

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To drag out a well-used cliche, the final furlong is often the hardest.

Just ask any jockey who has been sitting on the leading horse coming up the Cheltenham hill or approaching the Elbow at Aintree.

Or just ask Tony McCoy.

The champion jockey has finally broken Sir Gordon Richards' 55-year-old record for the number of winners in a season.

But he has taken his time about it.

McCoy got off to fast start to the season even by his own phenomenal standards.

He broke the records (all his own naturally) for the fastest 100, 150 and 200 winners.

McCoy has left his rivals trailing

Then he eclipsed the 250 mark, an astonishing 78 days quicker than he had done when setting the previous record in 1998.

He capped this by riding his 254th winner on 2 March - the highest-ever season total for a jumps jockey.

At that point, it seemed it would be a matter of mere days before he overhauled the ultimate record - Sir Gordon Richards' feat of 269 winners back in 1947.

After all, he was just short 15 short.

Coming into the Cheltenham Festival with a book of top quality rides, McCoy's seasonal tally stood at 262 - and he had won 12 races in the previous 14 days.

It seemed as if everything was set for the fairytale ending - McCoy to break the record at chasing's most prestigious meeting, maybe even in the Gold Cup itself.

Festival woe

But then came the Irishman's well-documented Cheltenham nightmare.

The death of Valiramix with the Champion Hurdle at his mercy and a succession of well-fancied flops saw him emerge from the meeting with just one winner.

And two-and-a-half weeks later, McCoy had picked up just five more winners - and a two-day riding ban.

He had travelled from Ayr to Exeter in search of winners but with little success.

In the end, he clinched the record somewhere in the middle - Warwick, to be precise.

But more than elation, he probably felt relief.

So too did the world of racing.

After witnessing the jockey's rotten luck and his subsequent black mood at Cheltenham, it yearned to have the old Tony McCoy back again.

Even if it means he will be winning everything in sight again.