Richard Johnson's striking blue eyes water as bright sunlight floods into the Royal Box at Newbury Racecourse and he casts his mind back to a Monday night in Stratford almost 21 years ago. ‘That was the first time I met him,’ he says. ‘He was a lot skinnier and younger looking, as we all were. It was my first year as an amateur and his first as a conditional because he’d been riding on the Flat in Ireland for a couple of years. It was towards the end of the season and he’d already ridden 70-odd winners and I had 10. But even before that I’d heard people saying “This Anthony McCoy rode a winner today, he was amazing”. It takes very little time in the racing world for word to get around. He was getting horses to win that other people couldn’t and all the people that you want to be talking about you were talking about him.’ If AP McCoy had been a postman, a plumber or a professor, Johnson would probably be talked about as the greatest jump jockey ever. He has been runner-up 15 of the 19 times McCoy has been champion jockey and that figure will probably be 16 come the end of the season. Johnson’s tally of nearly 2,800 winners far outstrips the totals of giants of the game such as Richard Dunwoody, John Francome and Peter Scudamore, all of whom won the title at least three times. Richard Johnson would be talked about as one of the greatest jump jockeys ever if it weren't for AP McCoy . Johnson has finished runner-up to McCoy in the race to be crowned champion jockey 15 times . When McCoy retires at the end of the season Johnson, 37, is favourite to finally achieve his dream but there is no hint of bitterness at the years of playing second fiddle. ‘My main ambition has always been to be champion jockey and AP has been the thorn in my side for a long time,’ he says. ‘But it’s not his fault. It’s my fault that I haven’t ridden more winners than him. I find it slightly strange when people say, “Now he’s retired you can give it a real kick”. I go for it every day of the week, every year. I’ll start off the first day of next season as always. ‘Obviously without AP it’s definitely going to help but you’ve got a host of young jockeys like Tom Scudamore, Sam Twiston-Davies, Aidan Coleman and older ones like Noel Fehily and Jason Maguire so there’s going to be no easy run of it.’ Johnson has ridden nearly 2,800 winners during his career but never been champion jockey . Johnson rides Royale Django as he wins Ladbrokes 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle at Southwell Racecourse . McCoy celebrates after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Synchronised in 2012 . McCoy has often credited the pressure Johnson puts on him for motivating him to ride on wet winter evenings as well as at the big occasions like the Cheltenham Festival. In 2009 he wrote: ‘Having Dickie as an adversary has, more than anyone else, spurred me on to ride more winners. The threat of him beating me to the title has made me more driven.’ At this, Johnson chuckles. ‘I’m not sure about that, I’ve just chased him a lot,’ he says. ‘It’s like running with Usain Bolt, he’s just turning back and laughing as he’s moving away.’ Many of the great sporting rivalries of the past have been characterised by sniping and swiping. But Johnson claims there is no room for that in racing, where jockeys know the perils every time they line up at the start and on a more basic level, they have to live with each other day in, day out. ‘The valets set up our gear every morning. It doesn’t matter how many winners you’ve ridden, it’s how long you’ve been riding. Because we started at the same time we’re usually sat next to or near each other. The longer you’ve been there the closer you get to the door. He’s been pushed out and I’m going to be next to the door. Cloud Creeper ridden by jockey Richard Johnson jumps the last to win Nicol & Fielding Mechanical Services Ltd Steeple Chase at Leicester Racecourse on Friday . McCoy credited pressure from Johnson as his motivation for riding so many winners . ‘Through the winter when we’re racing seven days a week there’s every chance we’ll be at the same meetings for days on end. I leave home at 4am and get back at 7pm. I rarely see my children [Willow six, Casper three and Percy, one] awake during the winter. I definitely see AP more than my children and probably my wife, Fiona.’ Johnson grew up on an arable and cattle farm in Hereford. He rode ponies as a child and as a teenager spent summers working at David Nicholson’s yard. ‘He offered me a job when I left school at 16,’ says Johnson, ‘I think my parents thought I’d go for two years, see a bit of life then go to agricultural college and come back and be a farmer.’ He would read copies of the racing newspaper Sporting Life, now defunct, at breakfast time. ‘Peter Scudamore was from the same county so I looked up to him,’ says Johnson. ‘When I understood racing a bit more Richard Dunwoody was the man I looked up to. He’s still someone I look up to today. Even though I’ve won more races, to be champion jockey would make me feel I belong in that bracket.’ The Cheltenham Festival is live on Channel 4. For tickets go to www.cheltenham.co.uk .
Richard Johnson has ridden nearly 2,800 winners during his jockey career . Johnson has finished runner-up to champion jocket AP McCoy 15 times . Pressure from Johnson has spurred McCoy on to ride more winners . Johnson admits becoming champion will be helped by McCoy's retirement .