Ruby proves to be a real gem

Ruby Walsh At a glance: Brian O'Connorgets the views from colleagues of Ruby Walsh on how the Kildare man has risen to the top of the racing tree.

The all-consuming Cheltenham festival is far too big a beast to be completely dominated by an individual but if anyone can be guaranteed of a central position at this year it surely has to be Ruby Walsh.

Ireland's champion jockey has a book of rides next week that would constitute a whole Cheltenham career for many of his rivals, including the pressure-cooker responsibility of being in charge of the brilliant, but error-prone, Gold Cup favourite Kauto Star on Friday.

Throw in the defending Champion Hurdler Brave Inca, what for many will be a festival banker in the gigantic frame of the SunAlliance favourite Denman, as well as the cream of some of the top stables in Britain and Ireland, and the possibility of a massively successful week must be tantalising enough to taste for the 27-year-old master-horseman.

It's little wonder then that bookmakers rate Walsh as their clear favourite to be the leading jockey over the week. The down side, though, of having the sort of ammunition that can have colleagues drooling is the pressure of expectation. No one's standards will be higher during the festival. The reassuring factor for Walsh fans is that no one is better equipped to meet them because, for many seasoned observers, he has already set a new standard in the toughest sporting job of all.

"As an all-round jockey, I would have to say Ruby is the best I've ever seen. There isn't a flaw," says Conor O'Dwyer, the double Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle winning rider. "A lot of people love AP (McCoy) and he is a very strong and determined jockey. But I would say he isn't the best on one that needs to sit in. Ruby, though, has everything."

As someone who faced down Richard Dunwoody to win a Gold Cup on Imperial Call in 1996, O'Dwyer, who will be 41 soon after the festival, has a comparative range to make his comments all the more substantial. He's not alone.

"I would say Ruby Walsh is very possibly the best I've ever seen ride. He's gifted in all areas. It is human nature to make mistakes, but Ruby makes less than the others," says the Gold Cup winning trainer Tom Taaffe. "Dunwoody was very good, but I think Ruby is better. (John) Francome was a great presenter of a horse at a fence but he wasn't as much of a jockey in the last two furlongs. Walsh has no weakness."

Others agree, with one Curragh trainer declaring: "What does Walsh bring to the party? He brings the best of Dunwoody, the best of Francome, the best of Paul Carberry, the best of Frank Berry, the best of Tommy Carberry: they all had something special about them, but Walsh has everything."

It is only a number of years since he was part of a triumvirate at the top of the jockey-tree in Ireland that also included Barry Geraghty and Paul Carberry who between them took it in turns to lift the jockey's title.

Ask anyone with even a passing appreciation of the game now and Walsh's only threat at the top of that same tree are the aircraft he uses in his regular trips between riding here and Britain where he is retained by the champion trainer Paul Nicholls.

The reason for the dramatic change is not hard to explain either. Walsh has more in common with his great friend McCoy than with some of his more cavalier, fun-loving colleagues. When it comes to dedication to the job, there is nobody more intense about the serious task of getting to the other side of the fence quicker than anyone else.

"He is incredibly committed. Nobody works harder," says Willie Mullins, the trainer who has moulded Walsh since first employing him as a teenage amateur. "He will ride out here four or five mornings a week when the season gets going after the summer and even now, he will be here two or three mornings. Considering he also goes to England all the time, that's an incredible workload. But he is so dedicated and puts so much thought into it." Indeed at times it almost seems like the whirr of Walsh's brain can be heard working through each race, be it a Grade One or a maiden at Tramore. Hen's teeth are more plentiful than races in which Walsh is found in the wrong position. But the importance of thinking his way through a race is something that has always been impressed upon him.

For many, having an 11 times champion amateur jockey for a father might have dissuaded them from trying to follow in some large familial footsteps. As if that wasn't enough, Ted Walsh is also in possession of a personality large enough to make him one of the most identifiable faces in Irish television sports coverage.

Christened Rupert after his grandfather, and the second of four children, Ruby Walsh grew up at the family's training establishment near Kill and slowly came to the conclusion that becoming a jockey really was what he wanted to do: even if that meant inevitable comparisons with his father.

A good student, and a useful enough rugby player to earn a trial at scrumhalf for the Leinster Under-16s team, Walsh started as an amateur while studying for his Leaving Cert and quickly made an impression. His first ride for Mullins in a Leopardstown bumper in November of 1995 was the initial step in a momentous partnership.

"He rode a filly called Young Fenora who was, to say the least, high spirited," Mullins grins. "He just rode her so well, this seven pound claimer who weaved his way through the whole field and got her up to win. It was exceptional."

At 18, he was champion amateur and in his first year as a professional, Walsh was champion jockey. By now, it was a close run thing as to whether he was Ted Walsh's son, or if the older man was being defined by his prodigiously talented offspring. But in 2000, there was a glorious Grand National moment that defined them both.

Papillon's spectacular Aintree victory was a victory for a cool head and calm hands.

The horse was gifted but temperamental. Walsh Jnr never gave him a chance to turn his nose up at the big fences, not with threats but with a subtlety that was even more impressive considering it was his first National.

It was a wonderful moment for a tightly-knit family. Ruby's brother Ted led Papillon up that day. His sister Jennifer has been his agent throughout his career. Another sister, Katie, is now one of the country's top amateurs, following her brother's path at Willie Mullins's. But in the public eye, it remained for some time something of a Ted and Ruby show, a fact only emphasised a month later when Commanche Court won the Irish National and then only just missed out on the 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Articulate and precise, Walsh does not have the verbosity of his father who can appear to not even be on nodding terms with the concept of doubt. But they are more similar than some might allow.

"Ruby is a very opinionated guy," says O'Dwyer. "If he believes something, he will say it and stand by it. But he won't say it idly, or stupidly. He's a very clever fellah, well educated, and if he says something, I would sit up and take notice."

There are some though who have been not so impressed with his habit of calling it as he sees it and some egos have been bruised along the way.

"I think you can say he doesn't suffer too many fools," was the verdict of one racing insider.

Those who know him, however, insist that although Walsh can appear "a little stand-offish" sometimes, that is not a full picture of the man. Among friends, he is known as being good company. A good pal is the Irish international outhalf Ronan O'Gara. Married last year to Gillian Doran, Walsh's opportunities to socialise, however, are necessarily limited. Reaching the level of performance that he has takes an overwhelming focus, especially when you are tall for a jockey at 5ft 10in. Tom Taaffe had a torrid time with weight himself during his riding career and is full of admiration for Walsh's efforts.

"He is a tall athlete for what he does. Making the weight is one thing. But when you combine that with the workload that he has, it's a fantastic effort," he says. And the effort doesn't end once the race is over.

"Ruby is always the first to admit it if he has made a melodeons of it. He is very self-critical," considers Mullins.

"A lot of other jockeys make a mess of it and then come back and try to justify themselves and what they've done."

O'Dwyer agrees and adds: "Dunwoody was a bit the same. Ruby wouldn't beat himself over it as much, but he doesn't forget. It's all part of what he sees as being a professional. I sometimes tell him he should try and relax a bit more but he keeps going seven days a week. A while ago, he rode here on a Thursday and the next day he went to Musselsburgh for one ride. And it got beat!"

Asked last year about his greatest racing regret, Walsh showed just how demanding he can be of himself when he nominated what many still regard as the finest run of Commanche Court's career when runner-up in the Gold Cup.

"I believe had I ridden him differently, he would have beaten Best Mate. It's a race I look back on and realise I should have done better," he said.

Also runner-up in last year's Gold Cup aboard his 2005 National winner, Hedgehunter, chasing's blue riband event is the race Walsh wants more than any other. And there is no doubt that in Kauto Star, he has the form horse of this season to bring it off. Typically, though, it is not that simple.

Twenty two fences will have to be negotiated and Kauto Star has mixed enough jumping fragility with genuine brilliance this season to make every one of them an endurance test for his followers.

"Kauto Star is the best horse with the best rider," considers Taaffe who will run Cane Brake in the race. "But this will be the big test of his stamina and his jumping. Even having Ruby on his back might not be enough."

There are plenty willing to bet, however, that he's wrong.

Name:Rupert "Ruby" Walsh

Born:May 14th, 1979.

Champion Jockey: Four times - 1998-99, 2000-01, 2004-05, 2005-06.

Cheltenham Festival Record: 11 winners, including Azertyuiop (2005 Champion Chase.)

Other Big Winners include: Papillon (2000 Grand National), Hedgehunter (2005 Grand National), Kauto Star (2006 King George VI Chase), Commanche Court (2000 Irish Grand National), and Numbersixvalverde (2005 Irish Grand National.)

Injuries:include breaking both legs, a hip and a wrist.