Ruby Walsh has endured a fearful run of injuries over the past 11 months, and makes his latest return at Limerick on Sunday.
The legendary jockey broke his leg just less than a year ago, memorably making it back in time for Cheltenham only to break it again at the festival.
After a Galway festival comeback, Walsh then took a heavy fall at Killarney towards the end of August.
“I had a lot of bruising to my ribs and vertebrae in my back and was in a brace for a couple of weeks,” the 39-year-old reported on Friday. “It didn’t come off until last week so it took me a couple of days to get back riding out.”
On a day when his young rival Jack Kennedy also returns to action, Walsh will ride in two hurdle races, with Good Thyne Tara in particular appearing to be a leading contender for the Listed Mares Hurdle.
However, Kennedy could be the one to land the featured €100,000 JT McNamara Ladbrokes Munster National on Rogue Angel.
A former winner of the Irish National and the Kerry National, Rogue Angel is one of a handful of Gordon Elliott-trained runners and can be fancied to add to his “National” collection.
JP McManus runs three in the big, including the Elliott-trained Timiyan, although the owner’s best chance at his local track could come from The Gatechecker who is extending to three miles for a handicap hurdle.
At Navan on Sunday Lost Treasure will test out his new 112 rating in the Waterford Testimonial Stakes.
Lost Treasure belied 100-1 odds in last Sunday’s Prix de l’Abbaye and was beaten by less than a length despite blowing the start and meeting interference in the closing stages.
