Rare chance to watch living legend Walsh on Town Moor

The same cannot be said across the sea about his great rival Ruby Walsh, the mercurial Irish rider, who makes a rare appearance at Doncaster today in his relentless pursuit of further big-race success.

He is one of the biggest names in Irish sport – a name far more recognisable than those who wear the green and white of the Emerald Isle on the football or rugby union pitch.

While all aspiring English jockeys want to emulate McCoy, it is Walsh who is the role model for riders on the other side of the Irish Sea. "Everyone knows Ruby Walsh back home," said Richmond trainer Alan Swinbank's stable jockey Brian Hughes.

"If you're Irish and you don't know Ruby, then you're considered a bit weird. It's that simple. When I grew up, he wasn't the figure that he is now – but his greatest attribute, in my opinion, is being in the right place at the right time in a race. It also helps that he's on the best horses."

Shane Byrne – the young rider who has enjoyed a number of exhilarating rides on Sue Smith's indomitable stable stalwart Mister McGoldrick – concurs.

"He's just a genius on the back of a horse," said the Bingley-based jockey.

"A record seven winners at last year's Cheltenham Festival, winners at Punchestown, two Grand Nationals. When you're growing up in racing, he's the man you want to be. He just gets horses running for him – rarely do they make jumping errors. He's like a surfer on the crest of a wave; he's that good."

Nicknamed the 'Silver Fox' because his hair turned grey prematurely shortly after he won the Grand National on Papillon in 2000 at his first attempt, aged just 20, the rivalry between Walsh and McCoy is fierce. Yet they are the best of friends away from the racetrack with Walsh lodging at McCoy's home whenever heraces in England. Indeed, the spare bedroom has its own name-plate 'Ruby's room'.

Walsh, whose Cheltenham Festival tally of 24 winners is more than any jockey currently riding, and only one behind the all-time leader Pat Taaffe, also shares McCoy's refusal to be beatenbyinjury. When he ruptured his spleen in a horrendous fall at Cheltenham in November, 2008, doctors wanted to keep him hospital for 10 days to assess his condition before deciding to operate. "I'm thinking, 'Jesus, this is too sore to ever heal. Just take it out'," he recalled. Five weeks later, he was back in the winner's enclosure.

Many contend that the only difference between the two talismen is the quantity of McCoy's winners – 3,000-plus – compared to the quality of Walsh's successes, such as his two Cheltenham Gold Cup triumphs on the legendary Kauto Star.

If the jockeys' championship was determined by prize money alone, Walsh would have comfortably ended McCoy's monopoly over the past 15 years.

Yet, in recent years, Walsh has ridden just as many winners on both sides of the Irish Sea as his great rival – although Town Moor does not hold great memories.

Two years ago, he was beaten on Celestial Halo and was criticised by trainer Paul Nicholls for his holding tactics. He made amends by winning Cheltenham's Triumph Hurdle on the same horse a month later.

Unlike many jockeys, Walsh is his own man and he has no 'paid retainer' with Nicholls, despite the quality of horses at the Somerset trainer's yard.

It means that he can choose between the Nicholls yard, or the horses trained by Ireland's top trainer, Willie Mullins, who provided Walsh with Grand National win No 2 in 2005 courtesy of Hedgehunter (and the McCoy-ridden Clan Royal being taken out by a lose horse when leading at Becher's Brook).

It is also explains why the 30-year-old from County Kildare is making the trip to Yorkshire. He believes his four rides, all for Nicholls, have a winning chance.

The most eye-catching is Free World in the Blue Square Handicap Chase, the race headed by Ferdy Murphy's Kalahari King.

The six-year-old is owned by Clive Smith – the man whose colours have been carried with such distinction by Walsh aboard the great Kauto Star and Master Minded, the two-time Champion Chase winner.

Purchased, like Smith's two luminaries, after some impressive

performances in France, Free World made a successful chase debut at Sandown in November, 2008.

Since then, he has disappointed connections, finishing second four times. If there is one man who can galvanise a winning run out of Free World, it is Ruby Walsh. Enjoy the chance to watch this living legend while you can.