Born in Kill, County Kildare on May 14, 1979, Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh is the eldest son of trainer and former leading amateur jockey Ted Walsh. He rode his first winner, Siren Song, trained by his father, in a ‘bumper’ at Gowran Park on July 15, 1995 and his last, Kemboy, trained by Willie Mullins, in the Punchestown Gold Cup on May 1, 2019, after which he announced his immediate retirement. All told, Walsh rode 2,756 winners in Britain and Ireland, making him the third-most-prolific National Hunt jockey in history, behind only Tony Mcoy and Richard Johnson. In his native Ireland, where he rode a record 1,980 winners, he was champion amateur twice, in 1996/97 and 1997/98, and champion jockey a record 12 times between 1998/99 and 2016/17.
At the Cheltenham Festival, Walsh rode his first winner, Alexander Banquet, trained by Willie Mullins, in the Champion Bumper on March 18, 1998. Later in his career, he enjoyed profitable associations with Mullins, on one side of the Irish Sea, and Paul Nicholls, on the other, enabled him to ride a record 59 winners at the March showpiece meeting. Indeed, Walsh was leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival a record 11 times between 2004 and 2017, including a record seven winners over the four days in both 2009 and 2016. His Festival haul included winning the Stayers’ Hurdle a record five times, the Champion Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase four times apiece, the Queen Mother Champion Chase three times and the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice.
The best horse Walsh rode was Kauto Star, trained by Paul Nicholls – still the joint-fourth highest-rated steeplechaser in the history of Timeform – on whom he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice and the King George VI Chase a record five times. Last, but by no means least, Walsh also won the Grand National twice, on Papillon, trained by his father, in 2000 and Hedgehunter, trained byWillie Mullins, in 2005.