Steeplechase jockey McCoy rides final race

Legendary steeplechase jockey A.P. McCoy climbed out of the saddle for the final time at Sandown Park in England on Saturday, ending his career with two third-place finishes on an afternoon that celebrated his career.

McCoy, 40, announced in February that he was retiring this spring and chose Saturday’s final day of the British steeplechase season for the occasion. He ended his career with 4,348 winners. Saturday, he rode Mr. Mole to a third in the A.P. McCoy Celebration Chase, a race named in his honor, and Box Office to a third in the bet365 Handicap Hurdle.

For the season, McCoy was the leading rider for an unprecedented 20th consecutive year. His final victory came aboard Capard King at Ayr, Scotland, on April 17.

Sandown Park, outside of London, had a sellout crowd of 18,000 for the seven-race jump program.

A native of Northern Ireland, McCoy has ridden such winners as Don’t Push It in the 2010 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse, and 31 races at the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival, including two winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup - Mr Mulligan in 1997 and Sychronised in 2012.

McCoy began his career in Ireland where he was briefly a flat jockey. He switched to steeplechasing full-time in 1994, and was the champion apprentice, or conditional, jockey during the 1994-95 British season.