Ruby isn’t pining for pal AP, as he eyes further glory
SHOULD Ruby Walsh and Annie Power arrive at the final flight in the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday, galloping at 35 miles per hour in pursuit of glory, there will be a collective intake of breath at Cheltenham.
Memories of last year’s horror fall in the Mares’ Hurdle are fresh. Fresher still are the images of Walsh falling at the last when leading this season. It won’t happen again, will it? If if does, it won’t perturb Walsh. The nine-time leading Festival jockey is informed enough to back his own judgment and horsemanship in the heat of battle.
Falls do happen at the last, he knows, but not enough for him to start feeling twitchy about his technique.
‘You will get a fall in one in whatever amount of rides it is and I probably get more falls at the last than at the other parts of the race,’ observed Walsh.
‘At the last in a race is where a horse is most tired and where most can go wrong. Technically, they are going their fastest at the time.
‘Do I take more chances? I don’t know. I didn’t read the stats, whatever happens, happens. The other side of it is: Do I ride more horses to the last with a better chance (of winning)? I do.
‘So, therefore, I’m going to fall more at the last because I’m doing it more than anybody else. That’s a lovely position to be in.’
Since December 19, Walsh has parted four times when leading at the last, although Valseur Lido’s stumble in the Irish Gold Cup was more to do with the horse than anything Walsh could have done.
‘Of course you look back at everything you do, every ride you have,’ he continued. ‘I don’t look at it in a hypothetical sense but a technical sense. I didn’t do anything different to those horses (that fell) to the winners I had this year.’
Win is what he does better at Cheltenham than anyone else. In the last 10 Festivals, Walsh has ridden three winners or more on eight occasions.
In 2009, he booted home a record seven wins, including the Champion Chase, World Hurdle and Gold Cup. There have been lows, too, like a wretched fall in the Triumph Hurdle two years ago, and Annie Power’s spectacular exit 12 months ago.
At 36, how does Walsh maintain perspective? ‘You balance it with age, experience, whatever it is. As much excitement and joy there is going to be, there are things that go wrong so you have to stay level.’
Ask him what would be a good Cheltenham, and his reply is instant, ‘Walking out of there would be a start. Two years ago, I left in an ambulance. You don’t want to be walking into Birmingham airport this year with me arm wrapped around me head or my neck in a cast.’
Even so, he acknowledges ‘there is huge expectation on us this year, as this is the pinnacle of our sport, so a couple of winners would be great.’
The ‘us’ is Walsh and trainer Willie Mullins, whose panning for Festival gold has become the stuff of racing legend. It was Mullins who identified the budding gifts of Walsh as a teenager and gave him the leg up on Alexander Banquet in the champion bumper in 1998.
It was the first of 45 Festival winners for Walsh and the first of 22 riding for Mullins, who has built his Closutton operation up from the roots.
‘I’m there since ’95, David Casey was there before me, Patrick (Mullins) is there all his life. We’ve watched the place grow.
‘We’ve all been a part of it, getting to the top. Now we’re at the top, it’s a great place to be, you kind of like being there. As hard as people work to get there, we’ll work even harder to stay there.’
Staying at the top at means winners, especially in the searching spotlight of Cheltenham. ‘It is about the championship races. I’ve been fortunate to win them all, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to win them again.’
Walsh has claimed the opening Supreme Novice Hurdle for three years running and goes in search of a fourth with the Mullins-trained Min? ‘He’s won his two races, and the form of both is quite strong. It would be nice to win, as it takes the pressure off. I guess we’re lucky to have so many good chances in the first day.’
Should Douvan deliver in the Arkle Trophy, Walsh could renew his Festival partnership with Annie Power in the Champion Hurdle, seeking a first day treble like last year.
‘She’s not Faugheen, she’s not Hurricane Fly but they’re not running,’ said Walsh. ‘Is she a similar horse to a sort of Rock On Ruby, Hardy Eustace or a Brave Inca, those sort of tough horses? She probably is. She ticks some of the boxes. She won’t tick them for some people but she’ll go with a good chance.’
Even after all these years this Cheltenham provides a first for Walsh – a Festival without sparring partner, and friend, AP McCoy. ‘I can’t say I’ll miss him as a competitor. Anything that makes it easier is good,’ he admitted.
‘Whenever something goes wrong, you walk around to his side of the weighing room and he’d have a longer face than you’d have anyway. In that sense, you’d miss him alright.’
Some day, Walsh will have reason to pine for Cheltenham as much as anyone, but he has many miles to travel first as he closes in on a half century of Festival wins.