Walsh waiting to learn injury fate

Ruby Walsh says he should find out on Wednesday how serious his latest injury setback is following his fall at Cheltenham.

The Irish jockey was injured when falling on Al Boum Photo in the RSA Insurance Chase at The Festival on Wednesday and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the week.

There were fears Walsh, who had only just recovered from a broken leg to be fit for Cheltenham, could be out for another extended period but it appears the latest injury is not as bad as was first feared.

“It’s in plaster of Paris and I won’t know until Wednesday how little or how much damage I have done,” Walsh told Racing UK.

“Hopefully I won’t be out for too long but obviously there’s a chance it could take a while, but I’ll know more in the middle of next week.

“I don’t feel too bad. There’s a lot of snow around here so I won’t be going too far today anyway.”

Walsh had begun the week with two winners on the opening day as he was successful on board Footpad and Benie Des Dieux and, reflecting on Footpad’s win in the Arkle, he admitted the sky’s the limit for the six-year-old.

“How high he can go nobody knows. I suppose the time figure is down to the strong pace we went,” said Walsh.

“There’s talk he could end up a stayer but he’s got a lot of speed. In saying that he did win over two and a half miles in France, so stamina shouldn’t be an issue.

“Wherever he goes next year he’ll have to step up as he’ll be taking on Altior and Douvan or Might Bite and Native River.”