Ruby Walsh pulled no punches in ensuring everything was kept clean on the track. The most-winning rider at the Cheltenham Festival rode in thousands of races and was considered the GOAT in the National Hunt game.
But every now and again he would have to give other jockeys a dressing down for dangerous riding – and he wasn’t afraid to do it. And as Ruby revealed, he wasn’t the only one to get stuck into other jockeys if they were riding dangerously.
“Do jockeys ever call each other out in the weighing room for careless riding after you come in? Yes. I was never afraid of any of jockeys,” Ruby said on this week’s From The Horse’s Mouth podcast.
“If you thought they were riding dangerously you’d have a quiet word with them. Most of the time it was younger riders who hadn’t realised the way they had ridden and I always found you got a better response if you actually went and explained to them what they did wrong, they wouldn’t do it again.
“If you went in shouting and roaring it didn’t really lead anywhere.”
Another topic Ruby tackled was the restriction placed on riders in the UK as to how many meetings they can attend in one day. While in Ireland multiple meetings are allowed for jockeys, the other side of the Irish Sea is a different story. And Ruby thinks that jockeys should be allowed to work as hard as they want and race as often as they want.
He continued: “I think if you are willing to, you should be allowed to work has hard as you wish or want to work and if you are willing to ride at two or three meetings a day, why shouldn’t you be allowed to do it?”
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