Following Tony McCoy’s retirement from the saddle in April after a spectacular career, it seemed there could hardly be any fresh horizons remaining for even the best jump jockeys still around. Ruby Walsh showed with victory on Bashboy in Australia’s Grand National on Sunday that the Irishman can have other ideas.
Whereas top Flat jockeys have for many decades been active around the world, their jumping counterparts have usually stuck to the British and Irish circuits, with the occasional trip to France. Has Walsh, at the age of 36, opened up a new vista not just for himself but for talented young jumps riders who keep emerging, particularly from Ireland?
At Ballarat in the Australian state of Victoria Walsh broke new ground in his own career just when it seemed that the rider born and raised in Kill, Co Kildare, could achieve little more than he had already. Walsh has ridden more than 2,000 winners – perhaps the most memorable coming at the Cheltenham Festival, where he has been top jockey nine times.
McCoy retired shortly before his 41st birthday. It seems unlikely Walsh, a father of three, will continue riding as long as that. Indeed, he said in March last year: “At this stage I should be getting better with dealing with injuries but it’s worse I’m getting.” The hullabaloo that is following Bashboy’s triumph could well, however, see more international offers arriving for Walsh.
He created a piece of Australian racing history as he steered Bashboy to an unprecedented third success in the big race at Ballarat. The winner’s trainer, Ciaron Maher, booked the Irishman to ride the 12-year-old after the horse’s regular partner Steve Pateman was suspended. The Irish jockey made his first working trip to Australia and achieved huge status by bringing home Bashboy the half-length winner.
“What a horse,” Walsh told www.racing.com. “I thought I still had a little bit left [as we entered the straight]. I knew I was giving lots of weight away, but I was jumping so good I couldn’t wait to get to the two fences.
“The horse on my inside nearly fell at the second last and I nearly fell off but when I got him back on an even keel, he started rallying going to the last and I knew I had a good show. It’s a pleasure to ride such a wonderful horse.”
Walsh has now won the English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Australian Grand Nationals, as well as the Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan, and he was delighted his whirlwind visit paid off: “It’s brilliant to be here. As a jump jockey you don’t get many opportunities to ply your trade abroad. I’m certainly glad that Willie Mullins encouraged me to come and my wife was able to organise three kids at sharp notice to be looked after and we got here. It’s been a great day.”
Maher was thrilled to see Bashboy secure his place in the record books, particularly in the hands of Walsh. “I’m ecstatic – it’s unbelievable,” he said. “Full credit to Ruby – he’s just a true superstar. It’s great for Australian jumps racing to get a rider of that calibre out here and for him to actually win the race.”
At The Curragh on Sunday, Aidan O’Brien’s Air Force Blue reversed Royal Ascot form with Buratino to give the trainer another win in the Phoenix Stakes. The winner, who started the 9-4 second favourite, was immediately promoted to the head of the betting for next year’s 2,000 Guineas.
Mark Johnston’s Buratino was in the perfect position to strike two furlongs from home but had no answer to Joseph O’Brien’s mount, who won going away by two lengths. Another O’Brien runner, Washington DC, a Royal Ascot winner himself, beat Buratino for second.
O’Brien said he was considering running the dual 2,000 Guineas winner Gleneagles in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville next Sunday. The colt holds an entry in the Juddmonte International at York, but the trainer said: “We are looking at Deauville and will be watching the weather forecast this week.”
At Deauville on Sunday Muhaarar made it a hat-trick of Group One victories for the season in the Prix Maurice de Gheest. Charlie Hills, the winner’s trainer, said that Muhaarar may now be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Mile in Lexington, Kentucky, at the end of October.
