'I couldn't take instruction' - Ruby Walsh, Davy Russell and Barry Geraghty open up about riding for the biggest names in racing

Davy Russell has admitted taking instructions from Michael and Eddie O'Leary wasn't easy when he was Gigginstown's number one, while Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty have also opened up about what it was like to ride for Willie Mullins and JP McManus.

Three of the most successful jump jockeys in the history of the game sat down together as part of an unmissable major interview in Sunday's Racing Post, available online for Members' Club subscribers from 6pm on Saturday, in which they reminisced about the past and spoke about what the future holds for the sport they dominated for so long.

Racing Post Members' Club is the ultimate racing subscription and you can subscribe with 50% off your first three months with code WELCOME2023. 

By subscribing, you'll unlock exclusive daily emails, premium tips, unlimited access to the digital newspaper and much more. Renews at full price and terms apply.

When asked what it was like to ride for Gigginstown, Russell replied: "It was brilliant to ride for them, but I couldn't take instruction. I could figure out things myself very easily once I was left alone.

"All my life I was never given instruction. Not by my father or anybody after that. Nobody ever gave me instructions and then, all of a sudden, I was given instructions to do a specific job. To carry out things a specific way and it was very difficult for me to do that. I wasn't able to adapt to the circumstances. I still tried and tried and I probably over-analysed the initial part of the instructions.

Russell also felt the O'Leary brothers were too hasty in sacking him at Punchestown on New Year's Eve in 2013.

"Yeah, definitely," responded Russell when it was put to him that the O'Learys got rid of him too early.

"Way too early," Russell said. "But we all grew stronger from it. They are great men and they do things their way, that's the way they do it, and I do things my way and that's the way I do it. I got on brilliantly with them through the years. So many winners, it was fantastic. I look back on them now. The horses I rode were unbelievable, it's all about the horses."

Annie Power with Willie, Jackie and Maureen Mullins and Ruby Walsh after the Champion Hurdle in 2016Credit: Edward Whitaker

Walsh gave an intriguing insight into what makes Mullins so successful and why he has become a superpower of the jumps game.

He said: "I didn't know a life not riding for Willie Mullins. The thing with Willie was that if I got it wrong, he wouldn't say 'boo' to me. And if I thought he was running a horse in the wrong race or something like that I wouldn't say 'boo' to him. We both made mistakes, but we both moved on.

"With Willie it's invest, train them, win, and then reinvest. Build. Get bigger. Where is the next one? It's always about what's going to happen in 18 months' time."

Barry Geraghty celebrates Epatante's win in the 2020 Champion HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Geraghty wore the famous green and gold hoops as retained rider for JP McManus for six years before he called time on his career in 2020.

Of McManus, he said: "He was good to ride for, because he understood the game and understood that things don't always go right. He understood I went out with the best of intentions."

Read more from Barry Geraghty, Davy Russell and Ruby Walsh in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

Read these next:

'If we want to have eight runners they will run regardless' - Gigginstown's Eddie O'Leary blasts proposed limit on handicap runners 

Davy Russell to follow in footsteps of Nina Carberry and participate in Ireland's Dancing with the Stars in 2024 

Ruby Walsh: the racing industry will start to decline if Ireland's Gambling Regulation Bill is enforced 

Subscribe to Racing Post Members' Club Ultimate Monthly and get 50% off your first three months!

Available to new subscribers purchasing Members' Club Ultimate Monthly using code WELCOME2023. First three payments will be charged at £19.98, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter. To cancel please contact us at least seven days before subscription is due to renew.