article: They are proud words but ones spoken with relief coursing through them. They are a mother’s innately, protective words. AP McCoy’s mum. ‘We are all going to Sandown on Saturday,’ says Claire McCoy. ‘It will be emotional in one way and relief in another. I’ll be glad and I will be sorry too. He has had a great career. ‘Twenty five years. It is the end of an era. I would not say I enjoyed every day of it and it is great he is hopefully coming out in one piece. Tony McCoy poses with his mother Claire McCoy at Punchestown racecourse back in 2010 . ‘But in the last few weeks, since he announced his retirement, I have been more nervous. You are thinking please God get out of this without getting hurt.’ If you think Claire McCoy has got her maths wrong - twenty five years? – think again. There may seem a perfect symmetry in the way McCoy has decided to end his peerless career this weekend when he crowned champion after two decades at the top of his sport. But the timing is even better than it seems. Exactly 25 years ago, the 15-year-old AP left his home in Moneyglass, County Antrim, to head to the respected but strict regime of an apprentice jockey’s life at the stable of Jim Bolger in County Kilkenny. Claire says seeing ‘Anthony’ leave left her ‘heartbroken’. McCoy poses with his father Peader and two sisters Rosin and Jane at Limerick racecourse . She admits she still can’t believe her boy stuck it out at Bolger’s academy for four and a half years. But the steely, dogged determination that enabled her son to not just re-write racing’s history books but tear them up and start again was already in evidence. Claire said: ‘It was 25 years ago this week that he left to go to Jim Bolger’s. He wasn’t even 16. It was a beautiful day, like today, and I was heartbroken. McCoy grits his teeth as the going gets tough during his final visit to Aintree racecourse . A young McCoy dons his silks and saddle as he poses with his father Peader in 1990 . ‘I can assure you there were many tears that day. Kilkenny seemed so far away and it was. The roads weren’t as good as they are now. ‘Him and his father went with the late (trainer) Billy Rock in his horsebox. They were meeting Jim Bolger’s horsebox. I could hardly wait until his father came home and part of me thought Anthony would maybe not go and come back. ‘You couldn't do that now – can you imagine a 15 year-old going away? ‘We had been down there before and left Anthony for a couple of weeks. I thought, God he will never stay here but he was very determined. A young McCoy leads in Wood Louse following victory at Downpatrick racecourse . Arsenal legend Ian Wright will present AP McCoy with his 20th and final champion jockey’s trophy at Sandown on Saturday. Track officials had been keen to secure someone with a connection to the club that the retiring rider supports. Thierry Henry had been lined up but his Sky employers vetoed an appearance. Another Arsenal name expected at Sandown is Liam Brady, one of McCoy’s heroes from his childhood. ‘Jim Bolger’s gallops were 1,500ft above sea level – it was the wilds of Ireland and the most beautiful setting for animals you ever saw in your life but I would not have said that for the apprentices. ‘They weren’t living in luxury. The horses were living in more luxury than them. ‘There was one public phone box and maybe 30 of them. It was a tough time. He was there for four and a half years and believe it or not, when he went to England he was was much closer to home.’ Derby winning trainer Bolger is a mellower model these days. In his autobiography McCoy wrote of ‘bollockings which made grown men cry’ while he was there. Mass every Sunday was compulsory and smoking and drinking banned. McCoy receives a kiss from wife Chanelle McCoy after winning the Ryanair Chase on Uxizandre . McCoy poses with his father at Leopardstown racecourse after he rode Colbert Station to victory . But it was Bolger who gave McCoy his first ride – seventh-placed Nordic Touch on the Flat at now defunct Dublin track of Phoenix Park on September 1, 1990. It was a moment captured by Irish photographer Pat Healy. He said: ‘I knew AP’s father Peadar. He had bred Thumbs Up (winner of the County Hurdle at the 1993 Cheltenham Festival) and I knew him from point-to-points. He asked me would I take a picture because it was his son’s first ride and he might not have many more.’ The prediction turned out to be wrong but only by about 16,500 rides! McCoy pushes Parlour Games into second during his final trip to Aintree racecourse as a jockey . It had been at Rock’s local stable that the McCoy jockey bug had really been born. The young AP spent every hour he could at the stable 11 miles from his home, at one point hitching a lift in a butcher’s van and ultimately cycling to the stable. Much as she tried Claire could not get her son to concentrate on school. She says: ‘I might as well have tried to persuade a cat – he was never, ever going to stay at school . He would huff and puff because he didn’t want to go with me fighting with him. McCoy and his mother Claire pose after he announced his impending retirement at Leopardstown . ‘Him and I fell out and we argued. I threatened to no avail. Mind you, his father didn't help me much. It was two and against one. I wouldn't say Peadar was happy but he wanted to give him the opportunity to be a jockey. ‘Anthony was very determined. But he stuck it out. He is a very focused man. We speak a lot on the phone – not about racing, just every day normal things. We certainly don’t talk about his falls because I don’t believe a word he tells me!’ McCoy celebrates after winning on Don't Push It following The Grand National steeplechase . With Claire and Peadar at Sandown will be their other son Colm and daughters Anne Marie, Jane, Kelly and Roisin. Claire admits it has taken her son’s retirement to make her appreciate how high he is regarded. ‘I don’t go racing that much but I went to Leopardstown (the day after he announced his retirement in February). It was that day I realised what people think about him and I think it has been the same in Britain. ‘I think he will cope fine with retirement. He is very strong-minded.’ Twenty five years on and nothing has changed. Parents of McCoy, Claire and Peadar McCoy, pose after their son announced he would retire .
highlights: AP McCoy is set to bring his 25-year career to an end at Sandown .
  He will be joined by his whole family and thousands of devoted racing fans .
  His Mum Claire admits she will be somewhat relieved when it's over .
  McCoy will be awarded with 20th champions jockey trophy by Ian Wright .
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