Ruby suffers Cheltenham scare

RUBY WALSH walked away relatively unscathed from a bad fall at Naas yesterday.

The champion jockey was riding King Of The Refs in a maiden hurdle and drove him into contention approaching the final flight.

King Of The Refs, however, met the obstacle all wrong and he and Walsh went crashing to the turf.

In the process they brought down Boro Bee and Paul Townend. Walsh was on his knees for several minutes, before finally rising and moving gingerly to the waiting ambulance.

He boarded the ambulance, holding a pad to his right eye. Fortunately, he suffered nothing worse than a cut, which later required stitching.

Townend, like Walsh, also stable jockey to Willie Mullins, was soon on his feet and both horses were also reported to be fine.

Speaking last night, Walsh said: “I have had a few stitches around my eye, but there is no question of me missing Cheltenham.

“King Of The Refs stepped right into the hurdle and I brought down the other horse myself. I feel like a horse has fallen on me, but I’m okay. At least, it gave the leg a good test!’’

Walsh was stood down for the rest of the meeting and his remaining ride, on the Charlie Swan-trained Forty Foot in the 3m handicap hurdle, went to Denis Hogan.

He only returned to race-riding last Friday, having spent four months on the sidelines, after breaking his right leg at Down Royal on November 6.

He suffered a double fracture aboard the Tony Martin-trained Corrick Bridge in a chase. Ironically, King Of The Refs is also trained by Martin.

Walsh is due to go to Wincanton tomorrow to ride for Paul Nicholls and is also booked to partner Mon Parrain and Tito Bustillo for Nicholls at Sandown on Saturday.

Yesterday’s fall will have done nothing for his confidence, on the eve of Cheltenham. He is badly in need of a boost and has yet to enjoy a winner since his return to the saddle.

Walsh is favourite to emerge as the leading jockey at the festival and has a number of high-profile rides, such as Kauto Star, Big Buck’s and Master Minded.

Meanwhile Fergal Lynch’s bid to regain his jockey’s licence has been refused by a licensing committee of the British Horseracing Authority.

The committee rejected the Irishman’s application as they felt he was not a suitable, or “fit and proper”, person.

Their concerns arose from the breaches of the rules of racing he committed in 2004, his failure to be candid at a previous licensing hearing in December, and his failure to admit his misconduct until June 2009.

The BHA also had doubts about the way Lynch, 32, was seeking a British licence in order to enable him to ride in the USA where his brother, Cathal, is a trainer in Pennsylvania.

Lynch moved to the US in 2008, but in July 2009 his licence was withdrawn at Philadelphia Park, where he had been leading rider.

That decision followed along-running BHA disciplinary inquiry at which Lynch admitted stopping a horse, supplying inside information about six of his rides, and associating with the disqualified Miles Rodgers.

Lynch subsequently agreed not to ride in the US until he had secured clearance in Britain, and last January paid the £50,000 fine he had accepted as part of his plea agreement with the BHA.