Ruby Walsh: Why understated Paul Townend is my racing personality of the year
Paul Townend celebrates winning the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase aboard Galopin Des Champs. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
In racing circles, when it comes to measuring success, 2023 wasn’t a lot different from 2022. Familiar names continued to dominate, but I don’t have an issue with that. I know how hard everyone has to work to get there and what they must do to stay there, but I also understand and see how hard most people work just to stay afloat. In sports, you get nothing for free. Some will just be better than others.
Therefore, I could select anyone from an army of people who achieved the most they could this year, but my brief was to pick one, and I chose a person I know well, who has achieved an enormous amount but hasn’t changed one bit since the day I met him.
