'If you're only riding your own horse in a race, you're asleep' - Walsh, Geraghty and Russell together for one night only
The winners of 6,276 races, five Gold Cups, eight Champion Hurdles, eight Champion Chases, five Grand Nationals and 17 jockeys' championships are wrapped around a table in the Boars Head pub on Capel Street in Dublin's city centre. Just the 127 Cheltenham Festival wins between them.
Davy Russell is starving. He orders a chicken Caesar salad with a side of chips and wolfs it down in less time than it took Michael O'Leary to sack him. Ruby Walsh doesn't eat anything, he has stuck rigidly to the two meals a day diet that served him so well during his riding days, while Barry Geraghty sips away at a creamy pint of Guinness.
"Some contradiction that," Walsh scoffs over at Russell. "A healthy salad with a big bowl of chips!"
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inThe Big Read
Last updated
Copy- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’
- 'I still remember the look on Paul Nicholls' face - but it would have been a lot worse if I hadn't held on!'
- 'It was devastating – but as a leader you've got to stand up, pick everyone else up and take them forward with you'
- 'He was still 100-1 at the post, so it was hopefully quite well planned' - renowned punter Patrick Veitch on a life in betting and a new venture
- 'People love having horses with Willy rather than a miserable git like me'
- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’
- 'I still remember the look on Paul Nicholls' face - but it would have been a lot worse if I hadn't held on!'
- 'It was devastating – but as a leader you've got to stand up, pick everyone else up and take them forward with you'
- 'He was still 100-1 at the post, so it was hopefully quite well planned' - renowned punter Patrick Veitch on a life in betting and a new venture
- 'People love having horses with Willy rather than a miserable git like me'