Mick Kinane was a tremendous ambassador for the sport and his absence in the saddle will be sadly missed.
He has decided to go out at the very top, and I will never forget the stunning ride he gave Sea The Stars to win the Arc.
Many jockeys riding the red hot favourite for the Longchamp showpiece would have panicked if they had turned for home facing a wall of horses in front of them. But not Mick.
He knew what horse he had under him and decided to take the daring route, switching John Oxx’s colt to the rails and unleashing him with a precision timed run to cut through his rivals like a knife through butter and win with any amount in hand. It was a fantastic ride. One of the best given the pressure that he was undoubtedly under to get the odds-on favourite home in the pressure cooker atmosphere.
It showed, that even at 50, Kinane had lost none of his skills and judgement that had marked him out as one of the very best, and in my view it is fitting that he has decided bow out whilst the memories of that ride and Sea The Stars are fresh in our memories. I wish him all the best for the future.
Another jockey making the headlines in the past week but for totally different reasons has been Ruby Walsh.
He showed why he is the man to have on your side when partnering Twist Magic and Lochan Lacha to victories under starkly contrasting circumstances.
In the Tingle Creek he grabbed the bull by the horns and decided to force the pace on Twist Magic after no one wanted to make the running. He got Paul Nicholls’ chaser perfectly settled and travelling sweetly at the head of affairs and gradually increased the tempo to get all his rivals struggling a long way from home.
The horse, who is usually held up and delivered late, jumped for fun from the front and quickly put distance between himself and his toiling rivals who could never get near him to deliver a telling challenge. It was a masterful ride from Ruby, and in hindsight I don’t think that the other jockeys in the race would allow him so much rope if they met again.
His winning ride Tony Martin’s Lochan Lacha in a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse was simply awesome and showed what a great horseman Ruby is.
The horse, a heavily backed favourite, had around 8 lengths to make up and looked beaten as they approached the last and things looked hopeless for his supporters as it became apparent that Ruby had dropped his whip at some point between the last two obstacles.
But Ruby is never one to give in and decided to use the palm of his hand as a make-shift whip, and somehow managed to galvanise his mount up in the shadows of the post to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat. It was an amazing ride, and we are lucky to have such great jockeys as Ruby and AP McCoy gracing our sport at the same time.
