Andrew McNamara was a man I was lucky enough to have ridden winners for, but the trainer was only a part of who the man was, writes Ruby Walsh

While there was disappointment for Blackmore, Jack Kennedy and Davy Russell will have gone to bed Tuesday night thinking the wheel had turned for them

The pleasure of having one body in charge of your sport came home to roost for Irish racing during the week

I accept Ascot has a couple of fantastic clashes today, but that’s not always guaranteed and, as for international competition, a scattering of Irish and the odd French runner is all this day ever attracts

Last Sunday morning, before a horse stepped foot on the track at Longchamp, Aidan O’Brien was already the topic of many conversations.

Whilst Newmarket’s Sun Chariot Stakes this afternoon will hold its own, the rest is playing second fiddle to the action taking place this weekend in Paris

The excitement that the short evenings bring to a National Hunt jockey is unique. As a regular person, I dread them now, like my love of rain has changed places with my hatred of the sun.

This former Cheltenham Festival winner over hurdles has taken his time to get to grips with jumping fences

On October 11 last year, I lay on a couch in my sitting room watching the racing from Limerick with my wife, Gillian, on a rare Sunday off. We had had a Sunday roast, not a tradition in this house, and enjoyed the afternoon doing nothing.

The All-Ireland football final will capture most of the headlines but it is Aidan versus Jim versus Dermot, Ryan versus Kevin versus Colin, and St Mark’s Basilica versus Poetic Flare versus Tarnawa that excites me more