Ruby: Young jockeys lack toughness
The Irish Examiner columnist was in Cork yesterday where he spoke candidly about life at the top, the controversial BHA whip rules and Kauto Star’s chances of winning a third Gold Cup.
Only last week, Walsh’s great friend and rival AP McCoy suffered an horrendous fall at Newbury but showed nerves of steel to go on and win the day’s final race on Shutthefrontdoor. Walsh feels the next generation lack that type of steel.
“I look at the young lads coming along and they’re definitely not as tough as the lads that went ahead of me,’’ Walsh said. “They lie down, they roll around. I would say Paul Townend is on his own as regards being tough compared to the rest of them.’’
Asked if he ever stops looking over his shoulder at the next generation of jockeys, Walsh said: ‘‘You never stop looking. When I was younger you’re looking at the guys ahead of you. As soon as you get there you’re looking at the guys behinds you. Competition keeps you going, keeps you improving. You have to stay improving to stay ahead of what’s coming behind you. If you set a high enough standard they’ll have to improve to come with you.’’
With Cheltenham just three weeks away the whip debate continues to rage in Britain.
At the weekend British Horseracing Authority (BHA) chief executive Paul Bittar expressed the hope that a “sensible resolution” could be found before the Festival. Walsh feels the BHA have ‘made a balls’ of the issue.
“I think it will overshadow the meeting,’’ he warned. “They’ve made a balls of the rule, they’ve tried to make something that’s grey black and white. You just can’t talk to a horse and ask it to run faster. Horses are animals and animals can’t be treated as humans.
“Race horses are a specific breed to do a specific job. They’re not pets.
“We need the whip to ride them to encourage them to go faster. The BHA put a number on it but by putting a number on it they’ve made an ass of the rule because 12 times can be enough or two times can be enough. There’s times you should never use the whip and by putting a number on it the BHA have allowed you to use your whip eight times on every horse so actually they’re encouraging the use. They should have left it grey.
“England was a great racing nation that everybody aped for years. Now they’ve become the apes. They’ve made a mockery of themselves.”
Having won the King George for a fifth time on St Stephen’s Day Kauto Star is second favourite behind Long Run to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Walsh feels the 12-year-old’s place in the betting market is more a reflection of the dearth of quality in the race than anything else.
He said: “Realistically he has a chance but it’s only a reflection of the opposition. Long Run is the one to beat and a worthy favourite. But outside of him the opposition doesn’t look that strong. And that’s more so why Kauto has a chance.
“At 12 he’s not any better than he was. If he can still be the horse he was earlier in the year in three weeks time he’s a chance but Long Run is the one to beat.’’
