On His Own will be ridden by Paul Townend in the Grand National
PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)Walsh misses National after Zarkandar fall
RUBY WALSH missed his John Smith's Grand National ride on On His Own after being stood down for the day following a crashing fall in the Aintree Hurdle.
In an ugly looking incident, Zarkandar hit the sixth hurdle and flipped over on to Walsh and although the Irish champion jockey eventually got to his feet, he was signed off on medical grounds.
The BHA tweeted: "Ruby Walsh has been stood down for the rest of the day on medical grounds after assessment following fall on Zarkandar."
Walsh later confirmed he would be "okay to ride next week".
Paul Townend jumped off The Midnight Club to take over on 16-1 shot On His Own, who was an early faller in the race, while Andrew Tinkler picked up the spare on The Midnight Club.
The Aintree Hurdle has proved an unlucky race for Walsh as he suffered a similar fate two years ago when falling on Celestial Halo and missing his National ride on Big Fella Thanks, who went on to finish fourth under Barry Geraghty.
Walsh's father Ted said: "He's disappointed to miss the National. It's part of the game. It's not the first time, he had a bad fall two years ago when he broke his arm. So it's not as serious as that."
Noel Fehily was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured leg after being unseated from State Of Play.
Brian Hughes, jockey of Viking Blond, who fell at the first said on twitter: "Average enough. Just going for x-ray now so will know more then. My face is very swollen."
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