McCoy joins in Perth's Glorious Finale

TONY McCoy is the star attraction at Perth's aptly-named Glorious Finale, the two-day fixture which brings the curtain down on the summer season at the Scone course.

Fifteen-time champion jockey McCoy, whose remarkable achievements in National Hunt racing have repeatedly been overlooked by the wider public in the end-of-year BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, currently finds himself in the unusual position of being the unanimous favourite to actually win the elusive TV prize this year.

That has a lot to do with his stunning Grand National success on Don't Push It at Aintree in April, a contest he won at the 15th attempt, so 2010 is proving a stellar year for the prolific Irishman.

He always has a legion of followers in the betting ring, and his three scheduled mounts this afternoon - Promising Times in the opener, top-weight Cappagh in the two-mile Novices Handicap Chase, and Valerius for Gordon Elliott in the Sodexo Prestige Handicap Chase - will all be popular bets today.

The Glorious Finale is the oldest fixture in Perth's calendar and, as usual, many of the top stables are represented, including Nigel Twiston-Davies, Philip Hobbs and David Pipe. Sam Morshead, general manager at Perth said: "This is always a fantastic meeting attracting big crowds with many having travelled from the south and Ireland. Historically we have had our best racing at this fixture and although our April stanjames.com festival has now taken that mantle, this weeks meeting looks set to attract some very good horses."

Present To You, trained by Hobbs, is napped to deny McCoy a win in the opener.

Elsewhere, Bullet Train can repair his wounded reputation in the Mouton Cadet Classic Foundation Stakes at Goodwood. Henry Cecil's colt has suffered a fall from grace this summer after storming into the Classic equation at Lingfield in May. Those who have doggedly kept the faith can happily be rewarded, though, when he makes a discernible descent in trip for this Listed contest.

The Khalid Abdullah-owned three-year-old has struggled since his all-the-way Lingfield Derby Trial triumph, after which he finished last in the big one at Epsom. He then found next to nothing when called to arms in the King Edwards VII Stakes before floundering on soft ground in a Listed heat at Windsor last month. Connections are not convinced he is best equipped at handling a truly-run mile and a half - hence the decision to run him at Goodwood over three furlongs less. In light of this, it would be churlish to write Bullet Train off just yet - especially as nearest rival Hot Prospect, who was left trailing in his wake at Lingfield, is unlikely to get enough cut in the ground.It should also be worth noting that last year's renewal went the way of Cecil's Twice Over, who has since won the Champion Stakes and the Eclipse.