Ruby Walsh: One who says the least making all the right noises

Last Saturday, or “Frankie Day” seems too far to go back to, when, for the umpteenth time, the Italian proved that he is the maestro and created a National Hunt atmosphere at a Flat race meeting. Noise and emotion poured off the grandstand when he pulled the Champion Stakes from the jaws of defeat and landed King Of Steel in front three strides before the line.

I thought it unlikely before the race, felt he had even less chance when the stalls opened, and none whatsoever when they came out of Swinley Bottom. Yet he did, as fortune favoured the brave, and he rolled the dice like a man without a care in the world. It was what top performers do, throwing the safe option in the bin and playing with instinct, belief and precision. Luck played its part, but it always does … it’s just that those who are not brave enough to play for it never find it.

It was fabulous to watch, but Tuesday and the news of the whip bans he received from racing last Saturday rolled around. I am a paid analyst on TV but haven’t yet and won’t reduce myself to watching the finish of a race by numbers until my eyes tell me to.

I looked at the sectional timings several times last Saturday when my eyes told me I needed facts to back up my beliefs on the pace of different races. My eyes never said I needed to check the finish of any races, but I have had my say on this issue and won’t be wasting any more words.

So, onto Doncaster this afternoon, where a slow-motion finish is guaranteed in the final Group 1 of the British season, the Futurity Stakes. Ancient Wisdom versus Diego Vasquez; Godolphin v Coolmore; Charlie Appleby v Aidan O’Brien; and two Godolphin jockeys, William Buick v James Doyle.

Not that that matters, but it does show how time heals all feelings when you think back to Godolphin moving Frankie Dettori on after the 2012 Prix de l’Arc in which he chose to ride Camelot for Coolmore.

The clocks rolling back an hour tonight signal winter, the early finishes and darkness setting in. Cheltenham appearing in the paper is a more upbeat sign of the times ahead, but the great venue opens with a whimper as it builds to its height in March.

Previews, launches and announcements of what this and that might do are all the rage at the minute, and it has brought some laughter to the Closutton gallops.

Every morning brings something new, a flash of talent or a better idea for a horse than someone had yesterday. The cauldron is full of thoughts, but as one jumps out, it alters the last one, causing fury amongst those who feel like WP is just putting them through it.

The laughter is at the belief that the people firmly believe he has a cast-iron schedule for every horse in his yard. The truth is he had two: Energumene for the Hilly Way and Galopin Des Champs for the John Durkan.

They were two horses who won their championship races at Cheltenham and were guaranteed to start at the same point this year. Energumene is gone, so El Fabiolo will, instead, head to Cork, but that shuffle alone impacts where Dysart Dynamo, Appreciate It, Saint Roi and Blue Lord start.

Allaho is on course for Clonmel in 12 days, but if he blows too hard or works too slow between now and then, he won’t, and something else that has progressed well will. Likewise, Dysart Dynamo is penciled in for Naas in 15 days, but others will take that engagement if he doesn’t keep shining between now and then.

It’s a jigsaw that Willie only builds as each piece tells him where to put it, and the opposition shows him where it might fit best. Trying to figure out where any novice of his will end up in the spring is a fruitless exercise in early winter because no door is closed until they leave the gallops and deliver on the track.

Don’t get caught by the trip either because every day is a learning day for WP, and just because he runs a horse at two miles doesn’t mean he thinks that horse won’t stay. Quite the opposite usually, as he tries to discover something he didn’t know.

Talk to him next week and, in keeping with the ebb and flow of daily routine, others will have replaced those who caught his eye last week.

I wish I knew where all those pieces would fit, but I have been in Closutton long enough to know that no one knows. What I do know is that right now the Closutton Express has moved from second to third gear and is close to leaving home. Plenty on board won’t have a fourth gear, and some will have a fifth, but which exit they take from the motorway to find their destination is not on Google Maps.

To bring it to the short term, WP can’t decide which hotel to use next week in Melbourne, but he will be there and the one who says the least is making all the right noises from down under. Some would say you should never listen to us, but I feel David Casey should be heeded now. 

He is delighted with both Vauban and Absurde, the former particularly so, I would suggest.