Legendary McCoy steers Gannicus to victory

Tony McCoy made a successful return to the saddle when his mount Gannicus scored by two lengths in the Clipper Logistics Leger Legends Classified Stakes.

The 20-times champion jump jockey, who retired in April, delighted his arm of supporters at Town Moor by producing a fairytale result on the four-year-old trained by Brendan Powell.

McCoy had Gannicus tucked away in the early stages before making his move at halfway and taking the lead two furlongs out during the mile-straight contest.

Powell explained: "It's all worked out great. That's the 46th winner he's ridden for me now.

"This horse won at Brighton for Jenny (Powell's daughter), but the handicapper only put him 1lb, which meant we could just scrape into this as he went up to 70 and it's a 0-70.

"He's not been in a competitive race like this and he was probably in front soon enough, but one crack from AP is about the equivalent of six from Jenny and it made his mind up.

"It's great for Jack's charity and this has given me a lot of pleasure. It's nearly as good as the winners in Dubai," he concluded.

AP had been persuaded by former trainer Jack Berry to take part in the race in aid of the Northern Racing College and the Injured Jockeys Fund's Jack Berry House.