JP McMANUS, diverted by a glint of silver in the sunlight, brings our stroll across the Parade Ring at the end of the afternoon's events at Ayr to a temporary halt.

"Is that a glass down there, is it?", he enquires. "It's like a trophy. What is it?"

It's not a trophy. It is a plastic champagne flute that has been carelessly discarded on the grass, albeit a rather upmarket one with a metallic finish on the stem. It is approaching 6pm and this is one of several evident signs that even the most fragrant of those parked out on the lawns of the Club Enclosure are beginning to lose their shape in the heat.

When you have enjoyed the luxury of having AP McCoy MBE as your retained rider over more than a decade, though, all that glitters in the environs of the Winners' Enclosure very often is gold or at least some kind of valuable metal formed into the shape of a commemorative plate or cup. The confusion is perfectly understandable.

McManus, the Irish multi-millionaire, racehorse owner and former bookmaker and arch-punter, has shared the joy of winning National Hunt's greatest prizes with McCoy since luring him from the Martin Pipe stable back in 2004.

There was that trademark ride on the late Synchronised in the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup, in which McCoy powered his mount up the hill to victory from a seemingly impossible position. McCoy's one and only Grand National triumph also came in McManus' famed green-and-gold silks with Don't Push It in 2010.

There have been so many special moments. The 4000th winner of the Northern Irish jockey's glorious career came on Mountain Tunes at Towcester in November 2013 and it was after his 200th winner of this season - Mr Mole in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury in February - that he announced he would be hanging up his whip at the end of the season.

That time is now almost upon us. There remains a possibility we could see McCoy again north of the border before he officially collects his 20th consecutive Champion Jockey title at Sandown this weekend with Jonjo O'Neill having booked him for a ride in the last at Perth on Wednesday.

However, so many of the estimated 16,000 crowd at Ayr were desperate to see him mark his final appearance at the Coral Scottish Grand National meeting with a winner in those colours McManus shares with the South Liberties hurling club in his native Limerick.

Lettheriverrundry went off joint second favourite in the JV Scaffolding Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race - more commonly referred to as 'the bumper' - but never really threatened to justify that position in the market. He was swallowed up as the race reached the business end and finished a distant sixth to the Nicky Henderson-trained winner and 5/6 favourite William Henry.

McCoy was nowhere to be seen after the race. He dashed straight to the Weighing Room and failed to reappear for a planned presentation from racecourse officials, picking up his gifts behind-the-scenes and heading off to catch a private jet.

McManus was understood to be joining him on the plane. These are, indeed, the closing trips of a quite marvellous expedition together.

The fact their horse had failed to get even close to the places just moments earlier seemed little more than an inconvenience.

"It would have been nice (to win), but, listen, we have had a lot of winners and a lot of good times," said McManus. "We are not going to measure it on today.

"It has been a great journey.

"Sure, we will all miss him. Big time. It was certainly wonderful while we had him.

"He is very professional about everything he does, ultra-professional.

I would say that he is the professional's professional."

Having landed one success at the Ayr meeting in the shape of Capard King last Friday, McCoy's career total of winners stands at an astonishing 4,348. There have been so many fantastic stories contained within those victories, but it is the statistics that McManus believes reinforce the 40-year-old's position as the greatest jockey ever.

"For me, he is anyway," said McManus. "The numbers say it."

McCoy, of course, is going out at the top. It is the way he wants it and you can be sure there was disappointment over the fact his three rides on Saturday failed to bear fruit.

Do not believe for a second, however, that he did not take at least a little time to stop and smell the flowers. When Herald Sport caught up with the great man in a quieter moment, he detailed what Ayr and its most significant races have meant to him throughout his career.

He landed the Scottish Grand National there with the Paul Nicholls-trained Belmont King in 1997 and won two Scottish Champion Hurdles on Mister Morose in 2000 and Genghis in 2005.

"I was lucky to have plenty of winners here at Ayr during the course of my career," said McCoy. "I had that win on Belmont King, of course.

"It was early in my career, but it was early in Paul Nicholls' career as well and it was a great achievement for both of us.

"I was also lucky enough to win the Scottish Champion Hurdle a couple of times.

"Those are very nice races to win and it is going to be a bit disappointing not to be able to do that any more, but it happens to every sportsperson at some point."

Whether he pitches up at Perth or not remains to be seen, but McCoy is open when admitting he will miss the warmth of the Scottish circuit when it is all over.

"It is great here," he said. "The people are really nice, really sociable and they know their racing.

"You get well looked after when you are up here and it is going to be a bit different not coming up here and not riding."

McCoy's best finish of the day came when piloting Upsilon Bleu to third behind Rascal in the Ayrshire Hospice Making Today Matter Handicap Hurdle. With Nicholls having withdrawn Benavolio from the National on Friday because of drying ground, his major interest lay in Sea Lord in the QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle.

John Ferguson's lightly-raced eight-year-old was already under pressure before clipping the second last and went on to trail in 10th.

Philip Hobbs trained the winner, Cheltenian, but made special mention after the race of the contribution McCoy has made to his sport and the pride he still feels in having handed him his first Cheltenham Festival winner in Kibreet in the 1996 Grand Annual Chase.

"First of all, being Champion Jockey 20 times is absolutely staggering," said Hobbs. "Hardly any jump jockey has a 20-year career and, secondly, he is a thoroughly good bloke.

"He rode his first Cheltenham Festival winner for us a long time ago and he is a fantastic ambassador for the sport.

"I am sure when Stan Mellor rode 1000 winners, the possibility of someone going on to ride 4000 was nil.

"However, I would honestly say that his record of being Champion Jockey 20 times just cannot be beaten.

"The thing is, he is riding just as well as ever. He is no different from he ever was."

The question is: What will AP do next? If McManus knows, he is, not altogether surprisingly, giving little away.

"I am happy he is doing what makes him happy," said McManus. "Whatever that is."