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As big G Says – and in Ruby’s defence – it was mentioned more than once on the novice chasers thread that BH was a potential accident waiting to happen
The ground also played its part as over the chase course (see the earlier race Ruby won on Sambremont) it was desperate so if he had set him alight a la the tactics at Warwick, I personally think he wouldn’t have got home. Being as economical as you can at your fences in soft ground is in most cases the prudent choice.
I noticed in the Warwick race that he skims over his fences i.e. doesn’t have clear daylight between the fence and his belly and that can mean that the margin for error if he gets it slightly wrong isn’t great, also being quite a big horse they tend to find it more difficult to take the shuffle steps (shortening up) at a fence.
Do we want a jockey to continue to ask his mount to stand off at a fence regardless of whether it is a do or die situation? Maybe that is a more acceptable risk to take when racing on good jumping ground but when racing on bad winter ground where half a ton of racehorse is continually sinking 6 or 7 inches into the ground on take off before having to haul itself together with 10st plus of jockey over a 4ft 6 inch fence, it might be asking too much and you can understand why some of them decide to take an extra stride before trying to jump.
It is good to have the debate/question the jockeys rides (before good and more especially the bad) but I think a little bit too much is being made of these incidents but then that is just my opinion.
As big G Says – and in Ruby’s defence – it was mentioned more than once on the novice chasers thread that BH was a potential accident waiting to happen
That’s purely a matter of opinion. To my eyes at Warwick BH was low and accurate at his fences, and capable of standing off and winging when required. A jumping style which served a certain triple Gold Cup winner of the early 21st century admirably well. The horse clearly resented being reined back today. I am not saying that caused him to fall, however turning in with a commanding advantage would have ensured no pressure was put on his jumping at a critical stage of the race. He is a big horse with a long stride and I would be surprised, presuming he is sound and able to race on, if connections do not revert to more positive tactics going forward.
I think Ruby is just getting tired, especially when it is later in the day and the trip goes towards 3m. Clearly not the horse’s fault….
I said the same after Valseur Lido fell. Most of these are happening towards the end of a days racing, when he’s bound to be weaker. Lots of rushing between winners enclosure and weighing room.
People might watch Annie Power, Killultagh Vic or Black Hercules and not immediately think it was jockey error but horses can pick up the slightest signal from a jockey and i have noticed that Ruby can be too far back in the saddle during these mishaps.
You very rarely see Geraghty fall from a horse.
Ruby will be fine at Cheltenham, he is usually sat motionless so all he needs to do between the 2nd last and the last
is pull out the old trusted………..
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Agree with the Davy Russell comment. Very strong and would never be put off if he was up.
Funny you say that but I was at Leopardstown one Hennessy day about 10 years ago and Tony Martin had one with Russell up in the 2m Hcap Hurdle that was about a stone well in and backed accordingly. Came their cruising at the last and Davy put it on the floor in Annie Power style. I suspect the groan was heard in Dublin city centre.
Found it… Psycho!
As big G Says – and in Ruby’s defence – it was mentioned more than once on the novice chasers thread that BH was a potential accident waiting to happen
That’s purely a matter of opinion. To my eyes at Warwick BH was low and accurate at his fences, and capable of standing off and winging when required. A jumping style which served a certain triple Gold Cup winner of the early 21st century admirably well. The horse clearly resented being reined back today. I am not saying that caused him to fall, however turning in with a commanding advantage would have ensured no pressure was put on his jumping at a critical stage of the race. He is a big horse with a long stride and I would be surprised, presuming he is sound and able to race on, if connections do not revert to more positive tactics going forward.
Agree almost entirely with this. As far as I remember as many people complimented his jumping as didn’t, possibly more. Why was that horse upsides at the last? He should already have been five or six lengths behind. It obviously adds to the pressure if you have one or more challengers approaching the last. The fact that Walsh was doing next-to-nothing actually encouraged the jockey on the eventual winner. I am pretty sure Walsh would have shaken up Black Hercules after the last. Why couldn’t he do that between the last two fences? You can forgive jockeys who go for a race deciding jump at the last and it goes wrong but it is that much more difficult when a jockey is coming to grief simply ‘popping’ fences.
As big G Says – and in Ruby’s defence – it was mentioned more than once on the novice chasers thread that BH was a potential accident waiting to happen
That’s purely a matter of opinion. To my eyes at Warwick BH was low and accurate at his fences, and capable of standing off and winging when required. A jumping style which served a certain triple Gold Cup winner of the early 21st century admirably well. The horse clearly resented being reined back today. I am not saying that caused him to fall, however turning in with a commanding advantage would have ensured no pressure was put on his jumping at a critical stage of the race. He is a big horse with a long stride and I would be surprised, presuming he is sound and able to race on, if connections do not revert to more positive tactics going forward.
It is indeed a matter of opinion, though I think you are pushing it comparing him with Best Mate in jumping style – BH has (or had) the potential, imo, to become a real pro, or, as I said on the other thread, get himself on the deck. Yes. he’s low and accurate, but he does not have the required impulsion every time to get far enough clear of the fence, and seems to want to get back on the ground as soon as possible. That’s an admirable trait in a hurdler, but not in a chaser, imo. The trade off with these types is always safety. I’d sooner have a margin for error every time and lose a wee bit of momentum.
Today might turn out to be the best thing that’s happened to BH, as he’ll be safer in future. Or it could knock his confidence. We shall see
It will be really interesting to see the response should Walsh exit from a horse Steeplechasing considers a good jumper.
Personally, I think it has happened far too many times to be blaming the horses rather than taking a close look at his riding style. As far as I can see he is contributing to his own problems.
Advocates of driving a horse into the last and asking him up are assuming that the race conditions and the horse concerned allow this. Such maneouvres, from memory (I can’t quote individual cases as evidence, so I’m generalising) normally happen when horses are in hammer and tongs mode on decent ground, the latter probably being the key requirement.
From lobbing along on a horse you believe needs only to stand up to win, what is the point of rousting him a long way from the fence to get him in the mindset, and with the required momentum to go for a big one. It would be a highly unusual tactical decision by any jockey.
Another assumption for which I can cite no evidence, but am confident is true, is that a lot more horses will be put on the floor by a jockey asking them up very late in a race, than for those allowed to pop.
It will be really interesting to see the response should Walsh exit from a horse Steeplechasing considers a good jumper.
Personally, I think it has happened far too many times to be blaming the horses rather than taking a close look at his riding style. As far as I can see he is contributing to his own problems.
I consider Killultagh Vic a fine jumper and Valseur Lido, in general is a good jumper. I think Ruby is on an unlucky streak and it’s that simple. When you or someone else can offer a reason, or even a hypothesis as to why you believe one of the best NH jockeys in history, with 20 years’ experience riding the finest horses in the world, has suddenly lost a key skill, I’ll happily reconsider.
Something to consider when critiquing Ruby’s quiet style is to remember that he will be riding to orders, implicit if not explicit, to leave plenty in the tank for Cheltenham on many of his current mounts.
Have to say and I maybe wrong but I can’t recall AP coming down at the last with the race at his mercy at all never mind the times Ruby as recently
It will be really interesting to see the response should Walsh exit from a horse Steeplechasing considers a good jumper.
Personally, I think it has happened far too many times to be blaming the horses rather than taking a close look at his riding style. As far as I can see he is contributing to his own problems.
I consider Killultagh Vic a fine jumper and Valseur Lido, in general is a good jumper. I think Ruby is on an unlucky streak and it’s that simple. When you or someone else can offer a reason, or even a hypothesis as to why you believe one of the best NH jockeys in history, with 20 years’ experience riding the finest horses in the world, has suddenly lost a key skill, I’ll happily reconsider.
I thought I had made it clear but just for you I will try again. He is not putting races to bed early enough so he is putting himself under far more pressure at the business end of a race. As for going big on a consistent basis in a manner similar to Richard Johnson I have no idea if he has ever had that in his locker. So you can’t lose something that might not have been there in the first place. True, Un De Sceaux was spectacular in his first couple of races but that was probably a case of the horse dictating to the jock and as discussed before Walsh has done his level best to put that fire out.
Advocates of driving a horse into the last and asking him up are assuming that the race conditions and the horse concerned allow this. Such maneouvres, from memory (I can’t quote individual cases as evidence, so I’m generalising) normally happen when horses are in hammer and tongs mode on decent ground, the latter probably being the key requirement.
From lobbing along on a horse you believe needs only to stand up to win, what is the point of rousting him a long way from the fence to get him in the mindset, and with the required momentum to go for a big one. It would be a highly unusual tactical decision by any jockey.
Another assumption for which I can cite no evidence, but am confident is true, is that a lot more horses will be put on the floor by a jockey asking them up very late in a race, than for those allowed to pop.
Black Hercules wouldn’t need rousting along between the last two just a loosening of the reigns or a couple of nudges would of done for him to pick up and put the race to bed and give Ruby that bit extra time to focus on the last fence.
As it was the Gigginstown horse was hoofbeating in behind him putting the added pressure on.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
It will be really interesting to see the response should Walsh exit from a horse Steeplechasing considers a good jumper.
Personally, I think it has happened far too many times to be blaming the horses rather than taking a close look at his riding style. As far as I can see he is contributing to his own problems.
I consider Killultagh Vic a fine jumper and Valseur Lido, in general is a good jumper. I think Ruby is on an unlucky streak and it’s that simple. When you or someone else can offer a reason, or even a hypothesis as to why you believe one of the best NH jockeys in history, with 20 years’ experience riding the finest horses in the world, has suddenly lost a key skill, I’ll happily reconsider.
I thought I had made it clear but just for you I will try again. He is not putting races to bed early enough so he is putting himself under far more pressure at the business end of a race. As for going big on a consistent basis in a manner similar to Richard Johnson I have no idea if he has ever had that in his locker. So you can’t lose something that might not have been there in the first place. True, Un De Sceaux was spectacular in his first couple of races but that was probably a case of the horse dictating to the jock and as discussed before Walsh has done his level best to put that fire out.
Ruby has always been a finesse jockey with a stop watch in his head. The best thing McCoy could when riding against him was to track Ruby throughout the race in order to have a chance in the closing stages of the race. If you compare him to Richard Johnson, don’t forget that Deckey has a tendency to force horses in a blunder, something very rare with Ruby. His last falls looked like “over-jumps” to me and not blunders. As already mentioned before, the way Ruby rides his horses makes them simply last longer – over more seasons. He rarely rides one-season wonders.
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