Ruby Walsh might have been somewhat in the dark, but the star jockey was reported to have claimed his 2,500th career victory as Au Quart De Tour triumphed at Gowran this afternoon.
A stewards’ inquiry has been called over the exact total, but the 10-times Irish champion jumps jockey took it all in his stride at the destination at which he recorded his first domestic winner, aboard Siren Song, trained by his father, Ted, in July 1995.
Suitably inspired by Footpad winning the opener, Walsh swiftly made it a brace as Au Quart De Tour, unsurprisingly also trained by Willie Mullins, pulled eight lengths clear of Alamein as the even-money favourite for the Langton House Hotel Maiden Hurdle.
When asked about having seemingly hit the milestone, Walsh told At The Races: “I’m not counting. I’m still a long way behind Dicky (Richard Johnson) and a very, very long way behind AP (McCoy).”
Walsh counts an array of headline prizes among his triumphs, including the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle.
He also boasts an Australian Grand National success after striking gold on Bashboy at Ballarat racecourse last August, while he claimed Japan’s biggest jumps prize, the Nakayama Grand Jump, aboard Blackstairmountain in 2013.
Walsh is said to have to claimed 1,738 Irish successes, including 106 at Grade One level, 754 victories in Britain and six wins in France.
