In recent seasons Mark Walsh has established himself as one of the most reliable members of the Irish National Hunt weighing room. Regularly seen winning in JP McManus’ silks, he has picked up numerous big-race wins over the years. Having come through a difficult couple of seasons after his claim was reduced, he has come out the other side of it a better rider and is well on course to registering his best-ever season in 2010/11.
Principle Trainer: Francis Flood
Notable Wins:
- Poplar Square Chase (Captain Cee Bee 2010)
- Florida Pearl Novice Chase (Aranleigh 2009)
- Easyfix Handicap Hurdle (Sharadi 2009)
- Red Mills Chase (Glenfinn Captain 2009)
- Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Qualifier (P’Tit Fute 2009)
- Freshways Handicap Hurdle (P’Tit Fute 2008)
- Listowel Races Supporters Club Lartigue Hurdle (Victram 2004)
- Martell Cordon Bleu Handicap Hurdle (Puck Out 2004)
- betfair.com Juvenile 3-Y-O Hurdle (Imazulutoo 2003)
- Flogas Ireland Handicap Hurdle (Allofasudden 2003)
The Beginning
Unusually, on August 8th 2002 Mark Walsh had his first rides on the Flat and under National Hunt rules on the same day at Naas on Peter McCreery-trained horses, with him riding Westar Lad to finish mid-division in a 6f apprentice handicap and then an hour later, riding Backswing to finish at the rear of the field in a maiden hurdle. It was just over seven weeks later that he gained his first win on the racecourse, with him riding the Marcus Callaghan-trained Shrug to success in a 3m handicap hurdle at Punchestown. He only made sporadic appearances on the racecourse for the remainder of that season, but he did finish off the campaign in the best possible way, riding the Christy Roche-trained Allofasudden to a game success in the valuable Flogas Ireland Handicap Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival. That win would prove to be the first of many successes that Walsh would have for Roche, a trainer he remained associated with for many years.
Climbing The Ladder
The 2003/4 season saw Walsh make something of a breakout, with him beginning to build momentum from July onwards and with plenty of winners. From November, his workload began to significantly increase and he capitalised on that by riding the biggest winner of his career at that point on the Jessica Harrington-trained Imazulutoo in the Grade 3 betfair.com Juvenile 3-Y-O Hurdle at Fairyhouse at the end of the month.
That win set up Walsh for what would prove to be a highly-successful 2004, with him riding no less than 19 winners from 275 rides during the calendar year. There were many highlights during the year, but wins that stand out were that of the Michael Hourigan-trained She’ll Be Lucky in the EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle at the Hennessy Gold Cup meeting at Leopardstown, on the Christy Roche-trained Puck Out in the Martell Cordon Bleu Handicap Hurdle at the Aintree Grand National meeting (his final winner as a 7 lb claimer) and on the Ado McGuinness-trained Victram in the Listowel Races Supporters Club Lartigue Hurdle at the Listowel Harvest Festival.
A Quiet Spell
While 2005 was another successful year for Walsh, with him riding 13 winners from 228 rides, he failed to ride a big-race winner and it signalled the beginning of a downturn in fortunes that would have been enough to lead to most riders losing their motivation. In the calendar years of 2006 and 2007, Walsh rode just 12 winners, with the majority of them being low-profile successes on Christy Roche-trained horses. It was undoubtedly a testing period for Walsh, but he emerged for it a better rider and he would bounce right back to form in 2008, with him riding out his 3 lb claim on the Tommy Stack-trained Dante Hall in a novice chase at Navan on March 1st.
Bouncing Back
If there was a distinct turning point for Walsh, it was the Galway Festival in 2008, with him riding the Francis Flood-trained P’Tit Fute to success in the valuable Freshways Handicap Hurdle. Indeed, that season saw Walsh become much more closely associated with the Flood yard and that win kick-started a fine run of form for Walsh that continued all the way through the autumn and winter up to his next big-race win which came on P’Tit Fute in the valuable Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Qualifier at Leopardstown. A month later, Walsh gained his first Graded race success for over five years when winning the Grade 2 Red Mills Chase on the Tom Taaffe-trained Glenfinn Captain. Walsh finished the season on a high note, having his first ride in the Aintree Grand National on the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Reveillez and while the pairing got no further than the third after being brought down, it was a great experience for Walsh. By the conclusion of the season, Walsh has equalled his previous-best seasonal tally with 19 winners from 306 rides.
Walsh continued his run of form into 2009/10, with the Galway Festival again proving a happy hunting ground for him. He gained a notable success on the Francis Flood-trained Sharadi in the Easyfix Handicap Hurdle, but an even better performance came in the featured Galway Plate in which he finished second on the Joe Crowley-trained Knock On The Head. Walsh continued to ride winners in the months that followed and he gained a particularly notable success when riding the Tony Mullins-trained Aranleigh to victory in the Grade 3 Florida Pearl Novice Chase at Punchestown in mid-November. His most lucrative partner of the campaign was the Francis Flood-trained Slievecorragh, on whom he won three races over hurdles. At the conclusion of what was a highly-satisfactory season, he had registered a career-best total of 21 winners.
The Best Yet
Better still was to come in 2010/11 for Walsh, as he found himself in demand from a wide variety of trainers. A steady stream of winners has followed from the very beginning of the season, with the highlight unquestionably being his win on the Eddie Harty-trained Captain Cee Bee in the Grade 3 Poplar Square Chase at Naas in October. At the time of writing, he is well on target to significantly better his career-best tally of winners and further big-race success is unlikely to be too far away.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
