Ruby Walsh hails influence and wisdom of father Ted
A devoted family man with three children of his own, Walsh admits it’s the influence of his father which has shaped his career from the beginning, and his influence is as important now as it was 20 years ago.
A cursory glance at the CV of Walsh reveals the rider to have been in positions of prestige almost uninterrupted since he began riding, but his father, pulling the strings from behind and in front of the curtains, has been instrumental in helping him make the right choices along the way.
Walsh explained he spent time in Noel Meade’s yard, and at Aidan O’Brien’s, but somewhere along the way Walsh’s father met Willie Mullins, and the seed was sewn for one of the most successful partnerships in Irish racing history.
When the opportunity arose to join the yard of leading trainer in Britain Paul Nicholls – a position most jockeys would give everything to have - Walsh explained his father wasn’t keen for him to commit to it on a full-time basis. He felt, with work from all parties, his son could be stable jockey to Nicholls and Mullins simultaneously. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“They weren’t not my ideas,” Walsh explained. “They were approaches people made to me but Dad sorted them out and made it happen so they could work best for me. There are only a couple of people whose opinion you’d consider, and his is definitely one of them. He has been very important to me, and continues to be so.”
The hyper-professional Walsh continues to be driven in the pursuit of “more”. The Kildare native, now 36, has won virtually everything a rider can win in national hunt racing – most of it more than once – and has been crowned champion jockey in Ireland 10 times, and yet the fire inside rages as bright as ever.
“More,” was the simple explanation Walsh gave, before explaining he does what he does for the love of it, but has been lucky enough to have been and continue to be associated with some of the best horses and people in the sport.
Having tasted success at the highest level, it’s a feeling, almost drug-like, which he wishes to experience again and again before he finally hangs up his riding boots. The life of a jockey can be a precarious one, but Walsh acknowledges he has been fortunate.
He is also aware there is more behind his career in the saddle than in front and will be prepared for that. However, with Cheltenham on the horizon and the backing of one of the most powerful teams ever to head to Prestbury Park, it couldn’t be further from his mind. Already the winning-most rider in Festival history, he will be doing everything in his power to extend that record
