Rupert Walsh was born on 14th May 1979 in County Kildare – Ireland. Walsh is the second child of Ted Walsh, another legendary Irish jockey. Like several of his contemporaries,Walsh was primarily inspired by his father’s interest in horses.
As a result of his father’s excellent performance in competitive races, Ruby Walsh showed encouraging talent from a very tender age. As a notable example of his early involvement in horse racing, the determined youth attained two distinct amateur wins in 1997/97 and 1997/8. After these significant breakthroughs which came as the jockey marked his 18th birthday, Walsh immediately joined professional riding – emboldened and with a renewed sense of optimism off the back of these early wins.
At the age of 20, Ruby Walsh won a maiden victory in the Grand National in 2000, marking the beginning of an unforgettable racing career. He achieved the remarkable feat riding Papillon, a horse coincidentally trained by his own father and owned by a certain Mrs. J Maxwell Moran. On top of that, both son and father triumphed in the Irish Grand National with Commanche Court that same year.
After the revered Tony McCoy took a permanent break from competitive racing in 2015, Ruby became the only active rider to have clinched all four Nationals. This has led to the longstanding winner becoming a popular and respected professional rider in Ireland and across the world.
Ruby Walsh enjoys a colorful career record featuring 2000 winners – 52 of them at the Cheltenham Festival. His favorites horses include Alexander Banquet (1998), Kauto Star (2007), Azertyuiop (2004) and Master Minded (2009).
