A.P. McCoy may well have retired from racing but the Toomebridge native showed that he had lost none of his competitive edge when leading a team of National Hunt jockeys to victory over a squad of event riders at Barbury Castle horse trials last weekend.

The JCB Champions Challenge in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund saw McCoy, Richard Johnson, Sam Twiston-Davies and Wayne Hutchinson (stable jockey at Barbury in Alan King’s yard) win a jump-off over the team of New Zealanders Andrew Nicholson and Mark Todd and leading British internationals Harry Meade and Tina Cook (nee Gifford).