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Davy Russell with another few masterclasses this week and an enviable record of at least a winner a year since 2006 must come into the equation. So must Ruby, who showed on his two winners that he hasn’t lost an ounce of talent.
Who do you think rides Cheltenham the best? Who would you have on your horse if the money was down at the Festival?
I was about to select Ruby Walsh, because he is tremendously skilled and talented, but some recent fuss about Cheltenham and its history made me pause and think back a few years to previous possibilities.
The tarnished “Sparkless” Boodle?
The tipsy Glen “Forty Percent” Farclas?
The timid “Sometimes” Pertemps?
The money-eyed Ryan “Every Extra” Eyre?
The overcooked Albert “Spud” Bartlett?
The wavering Tim “Disconnected” Eekoe?
The indecisive “Advisory” Brown?Perhaps the courageous, bold, honourable, talented F T Winter would fit the bill today.
Ruby for me. The amount of times he always seems to manoeuvre himself to that inside rail coming down the hill and round the corner is staggering.
The ride on footpad to me was flawless. To let your 2 market rivals go that far ahead in a 2 mile race requires nerves of steel. Yes he was on the best horse in the race and often is but he very rarely loses on the best horse in the race.
Ruby at the Festival has made riding the course into an art form and at times you think he must be able to see into the future for the outcome of a race prior to its start – mind you it is a massive help when you have (and had) the bullets he has had over the years to go to war with as that can be half the battle.
Davy isn’t that far behind considering he doesn’t have quite the same talent pool to call on and that makes his record all the more remarkable – I always liked watching Richard Dunwoody as well and I felt it was unfortunate that injury forced him into premature retirement and robbed us of his riding skills for another few years.
Ruby by far. Just think of all the various races he has won there…..
Jamie Osborne won 5 races at the 1992 Festival, which was my very first, by the way.
He won the Arkle, the CC, the Stayers, the Supreme and the County Hurdle. Try and find a jockey who could top that considering it was a three day Festival and he wasn’t really attached to trainers who had strings of 150+ horses.5 winners for 4 different trainers!!!
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