Bookmakers believe Ruby Walsh is long odds-on to regain the title of Ireland's champion jockey next year following confirmation that he will no longer be No.1 jockey to Paul Nicholls in Britain and instead will focus on riding at home.
Walsh and Nicholls have been the dominant force in British National Hunt racing for much of the last decade but the Irishman has pointed to the demands of constant travelling back and forth across the Irish Sea as the primary reason for the split. Wexford born Daryl Jacob will take over from Walsh.
“Being stable jockey there enabled me to ride in, and win, the biggest races in our sport, so walking away was never going to be easy,” Walsh said yesterday. “However I felt towards the end of last season that the travelling was starting to take its toll - my family and I were like passing ships in the night.”
Walsh believes the move, which will see him focus on riding for Willie Mullins, could prolong his career and Paddy Power rate him as low as 1-4 to become Irish champion for a seventh time this season.
Walsh was beaten by just two winners by Davy Russell last season (103-101) but also rode fifty seven winners in Britain. His best total across-channel came in the 2004-05 season with eighty one winners.
Rebel Fitz has a second start over fences at Ballinrobe this evening and despite heavy ground, the high class hurdler can prove the focus of a profitable meeting for Barry Geraghty.
There wasn’t much wrong with Rebel Fitz’s chasing debut at Killarney, apart from coming up five and a half lengths short of Arnaud and the benefit of that outing can be obvious now.
Geraghty had better luck at Killarney earlier in the month aboard the ex-French Pur Style and this mare’s jumping looks a big asset in her attempt to follow up in today’s handicap chase.
Samantha Jones is Geraghty’s mount in the handicap hurdle but ground conditions will be very different compared to what she won over at Cork on Friday so a better option for the jockey could be the course and distance winner Our Man Zebo in the conditions hurdle.
