Ruby Walsh: Majborough and Mark Walsh show shades of Les Bleus with fast start and class

It will be doing it again that ultimately defines them, a little like the French.

Mark Walsh on Majborough celebrates winning The Ladbrokes Dublin Steeplechase. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Sat, 07 Feb, 2026 - 07:05

Ruby Walsh is one of the most successful jump jockeys in racing history and is now a high‑profile analyst and broadcaster.

Speed. The French seemed to have so much more of it than the Irish in Paris on Thursday night that it got me thinking. Every hesitation by someone in green was punished in the Stade De France by a French team playing with flair. I had seen that somewhere else lately, but it took 80 mins of rugby in the rain, listening to Allez Les Blues, to put it into context in my mind.

Majborough and Mark Walsh set off last Sunday with the intent that the French players had when the whistle blew to start the Six Nations. They had Marine National, Solness and Energumine flat out by the time they had covered one tenth of this contest, and well before halfway, the result was a foregone conclusion. The pace, accuracy and intent of Mark’s plan and Majborough’s execution were a sight to behold, but it will be doing it again that ultimately defines them, a little like the French.