Ruby Walsh: No quick solution to cryptic Galway Hurdle

'I know there are two fewer horses to work through with the field size being 20 compared to 22, but for once, I thanked health and safety because not that long ago the Galway hurdle had a field capacity of 27,' Walsh said

Jockey Jordan Gainford with his family, from left, sister Gemma, father Colin, mother Avril and sister Andrea after winning the Tote Galway Plate on Hewick. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Yesterday evening’s Galway Plate was the simplex version of a crossword compared to this afternoon’s cryptic Galway Hurdle. I know there are two fewer horses to work through with the field size being 20 compared to 22, but for once, I thanked health and safety because not that long ago the Galway hurdle had a field capacity of 27.

From a jockey’s perspective, that was a nightmare and more akin to being a passenger on a Japanese bullet train at rush hour than partaking in a horse race. The number of runners was reduced to 24 initially, and latterly to where it is now at 20, and the critical point here is that every horse has a chance when the race starts.