Jockey Profile

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From Kill, County Kildare, Rupert "Ruby" Walsh was undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, National Hunt jockey of all time. He enjoyed a career in the saddle that was second to none and retired on a high when winning the Grade 1 Coral Punchestown Gold Cup on the Willie Mullins-trained Kemboy at Punchestown on May 1, 2019, two weeks before his 40th birthday. 

A fine amateur rider in his early years in the saddle, Walsh enjoyed a glittering professional career and won almost every race worth winning in the world of National Hunt racing. He enjoyed remarkable success during his career-long association with Willie Mullins and was similarly never far from the winners' enclosure on the biggest days when riding for Paul Nicholls.  

Ruby is the winning-most jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and retired with a record 59 wins to his name. He was the leading jockey at the Festival on 11 occasions, riding a record seven winners on two occasions. Ruby became the first jockey to ride four winners on the same day at the Cheltenham Festival when dominating on the third day of the 2017 renewal. He won the JLT Novices' Chase on Yorkhill, the Ryanair Chase on Un De Sceaux, the Stayers' Hurdle on Nichols Canyon and the Mares' Novices' Hurdle on Let's Dance. The quartet were trained by Willie Mullins. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the Nicholls-trained Kauto Star in 2007 and 2009, the Champion Hurdle on four occasions for Mullins (Hurricane Fly (2011, 2013) Faugheen (2015) and Annie Power (2016)) and the Champion Chase three times on the Paul Nicholls-trained Azertyuiop (2004) and Master Minded (2008, 2009).

Ruby won the Aintree Grand National on Papillon, trained by his father, Ted, in 2000 and again five years later on the Mullins-trained Hedgehunter. He won the Irish Grand National on Commanche Court (Ted Walsh) in 2000, Numbersixvalverde (Martin Brassil) in 2005 and gave Willie Mullins his first success in the race when partnering Burrows Saint to win in 2019, just nine days before he retired. 

Ruby was crowned champion National Hunt jockey in Ireland for the 12th and final time at the end of the 2016/2017 season with 131 winners, a tally that matched his previous best, a record he set in 2007/2008. Ruby rode his most valuable winner on Blackstairmountain in the in the Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan in 2013 and enjoyed notable success in Australia, the USA and closer to home in France. In all, Ruby rode 2,756 winner in his career in Ireland (1,980) and Britain (776) combined. 

He is the second child, and eldest son, of 11 time champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and brother of Katie Walsh, the former top amateur rider. Walsh won the Irish amateur title twice, in 1996/1997 at the age of 18 and again in 1997/1998, before turning professional.