Ruby Walsh looks forward to exciting times with the star names in Closutton
VAUTOUR
“This year Willie has Don Poli, Djakadam and probably Vautour for the Gold Cup. Where do they fit in? Which one of them could be the best? I know if you were tying my hand behind my back at this stage and told me I had to ride one, I would go with Vautour. But only time will tell. Will he get three and a quarter? Will he even get three miles? Jesus, I love him. I think he’s a monster. I thought his performance in Cheltenham was breathtaking. He looks great. There’s room for him to develop into a Gold Cup horse. He kicked 160 [rated] horses out of the way at Cheltenham like they were selling-platers. What he did to Apache Stronghold, Valseur Lido, Irish Saint… It was some thrill up on his back. For a two mile and five chase, the way he opened up down the hill to the third last. And when I gave him a root in the guts off the bend. Coming to the back of the last he’d one ear pricked as if to say dismissively ‘ah come on.’”
FAUGHEEN
“You’d imagine he’ll start at home in one of the Grade 1s and it will be Grade 1 all the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to Kempton but you start at the Champion Hurdle and work your way back there with him, don’t ya? He has all the potential but until he proves he has the longevity, it doesn’t matter. Hopefully he has the soundness and he could be… but a jump horse can’t be a great horse until he’s proved he has the longevity. Somewhere along the way he’s gonna get beaten. It’ll happen somewhere along the way but that won’t make him any less immortal if he stays going as he is. There’s nothing complicated about him. He can make it, he can drop in. He’s just good.”
DOUVAN
“He’s an unbelievable jumper. I think he’ll make fences look very small. He has the pace and the ability to stay over hurdles but he’s an incredible jumper. If Willie sends me down over the fences on him I won’t be worried. I look at the individual and different horses suit different things. When you have a horse with Douvan’s pace and the ability he shows jumping a hurdle, if you can transform that into chases… happy days.”
UN DE SCEAUX
“When the ground is heavy, he’ll take some following. It’s a different step for him now and he didn’t take that step over hurdles into open company. He now has to take that step. Oh I have faith in him. It won’t be as easy this year though. He’s not slow. Nowhere near it. He has a tremendous turn of foot and a wonderful cruising speed. His jumping improved all through the year. He was magnificent in the Arkle. In Punchestown the ground was a bit quick for him and I was probably as aware of that as the horse was and just done enough to win on him. He looks strong now. He looks like a tank. He’s in great form. He’s exciting. He’s a good horse. Simple as… When you’re rattling down the straight at Cheltenham, the first four in the Arkle and you’re piling on the pressure… and even off the bend, he kicked into another gear. The wings of the second last, the wings of the last and sprinted to the line. He’s a bit special alright.”
NICHOLS CANYON
“He’s only a hurdler. Whether he goes two miles or three miles, I think he’s a novice that slipped under the radar because he got beaten at Cheltenham. Back to Aintree and bolted in and then came back to Punchestown. He was at every dogfight. He ran in six Grade 1s, won four of them. I fell off of him in one and we didn’t make enough use of him in the other. He’s a hardy little horse. He looks good and strong. He definitely comes into the mix as a hurdler. Big time. He’s a proper little horse.”
