Racing:Ruby Walsh has ruled out travelling to Britain next week for meetings at Chepstow and Wetherby after incurring a five-day ban for excessive use of the whip at Aintree yesterday.
And the Irish jockey will take a close look at Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase card on Saturday before deciding whether to run the risk of another suspension.
Walsh said he would consider restricting his visits across the Irish Sea after picking up the ban and has already revised his schedule.
“I’m not going to Chepstow on Tuesday and I won’t be in Wetherby on Friday, and I’ll have a look at the declarations for the Charlie Hall before deciding whether to go for that or not,” Walsh said today.
“I’m facing a 10-day suspension the next time I offend. Ten days is what I’m looking at so every ride I take in the UK from now on has to be seriously calculated. It has to be worth the risk.
“In the UK for the prize-money that’s there, it’s not worth the risk. I’ve got too many commitments to Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls to be doing that.
“The rules are well regulated here in Ireland. They are discretionary and common sense is used. I think that is the bit that is missing in England. Common sense seems to have gone out of the window.”
Barry Geraghty believes Walsh was badly done when banned for five days for overstepping the new British whip rules on Edgardo Sol.
And Geraghty, who also divides his time between Ireland and England, is unhappy with the regulations now in force.
“I thought Ruby gave his horse a brilliant ride,” said Geraghty. “He stopped using the whip with about 100 yards to go and gave him one more smack and it was the difference between winning and losing.
“It was a brilliant ride and to get suspended for that is flying in the face of what we are trying to do. We want to win races but not at all costs. If you are on a horse that travels well to the last, or between the last two, there’s no need to get stuck into him for a major effort until late in the race.
“But if you are on a horse that’s a bit lazy and wants a couple of smacks early on in the race to keep him up to his job your eight have gone and you’re just watching the race go away from you.
“You can’t ask the horse for the effort he needs to give to win when you are reduced to a passenger.”