Ruby Walsh will go down as one of the greatest after riding over 2,500 winners

• McCoy compares Walsh to Messi
• Ruby Walsh calls time on career
• Scroll down for his best wins

Ruby Walsh was never really going to be anything other than a jockey.

Born to 11-times champion amateur rider and Grand National-winning trainer Ted Walsh and his wife Helen on May 14, 1979, Rupert Walsh, to give Ruby his proper name, blazed a trail from the very beginning.

The second of the four Walsh siblings, sister Katie is a former Grade One-winning rider herself, his other sister Jennifer acts as Walsh's agent while brother Ted jnr is also involved in the racing industry.

But it is Ruby who is the headline name, having hardly looked back since riding his first winner aboard Siren Song for his father at Gowran in July 1995, at the age of just 16.

After two champion amateur titles, Walsh wasted no time in turning professional in 1998, having already registered his first Cheltenham Festival winner via Alexander Banquet in the Champion Bumper that March.

And from there, the only way was up - lifting the first of his 12 Irish champion jockey titles in the 1998/99 season before really putting his name in lights when winning the Grand National at his first attempt on his father's Papillon in 2000.

The duo went on to win the Irish version with Commanche Court that year and staying chases proved a rich hunting ground for Walsh, with the jockey coming within a short head of the grand slam of Welsh, English, Irish and Scottish Nationals in 2004/5, with Cornish Rebel just falling short at Ayr.

Walsh has over 2,500 victories to his name, and associations with Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins have yielded the majority of his most memorable partnerships.

Who could forget the image of Walsh standing high in his irons, saluting the crowd, as the Nicholls-trained Kauto Star did the unthinkable and regained the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2009?

Or the grin on Walsh's face after Hurricane Fly once again showed his brilliance to snatch a second Champion Hurdle in 2013.

Add into the mix the likes of Champion Chase hero Master Minded and the seemingly unbeatable three-mile champion Big Bucks, plus such Rich Ricci-owned favourites as Faugheen, Annie Power and Vautour, and it is easy to see how Walsh commanded a legion of fans.

But while success has been plentiful, disappointment has been equally so, with Walsh dogged by bad luck at the most inopportune moments.

His Grand National hopes were twice extinguished at the last gasp, with falls in the Aintree Hurdle in both 2010 and 2012 ruling him out of the main event, while he famously recovered from a broken leg sustained in November 2017 in time for the 2018 Cheltenham Festival, only to break the same leg again in a fall on day two of the meeting.

Walsh has a catalogue of injuries - fractured wrists, dislocated and fractured hips, a cracked elbow, dislocated shoulders and cracked vertebrae - but a fall at the Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham in 2008 was particularly gruesome, with Walsh having his spleen removed in an emergency operation.

He returned to the saddle just 27 days later - but the passing of time has seemingly precipitated longer periods of recovery and a rather more circumspect approach to how much he rode.

With wife Gillian and his four daughters - Isabelle, Elsa, Gemma and Erica - waiting for him at home, it is easy to see how Walsh has finally opted to call time on his career, just days away from his 40th birthday.

Certainly the National Hunt game will be all the poorer for his departure and Cheltenham will definitely not be the same without the crowd's rendition of the Kaiser Chiefs' hit 'Ruby' as he returns on yet another Festival winner.

However, he clearly thinks the time is right - and it is only fitting that, like his great friend and former long-time rival Sir Anthony McCoy, a champion such as him should bow out on his own terms.

12 special Ruby Walsh moments

Papillon - Grand National (2000)

In 1999, Tommy and Paul Carberry teamed up to win the Aintree spectacular for Ireland - and 12 months later it was the turn of Ted Walsh and his 20-year-old son, Ruby, who was having his first ride in the race. The horse was the subject of a huge public gamble, and in beating Mely Moss by a length and a quarter he set his rider on the road to superstardom.

Hedgehunter - Grand National (2005)

Hedgehunter had really taken to the big fences the year before, but ran too free for David Casey and was ultimately a tired faller at the last. Twelve months on he was sent off the 7-1 favourite in the hands of Walsh, who was able to avoid significant trouble at Becher's on the second circuit that saw Clan Royal carried out. Left in front from there, it was only at the elbow that a hitherto motionless Walsh asked his partner a question, with the response everything his backers could have hoped for.

Master Minded - Queen Mother Champion Chase (2008)

Walsh enjoyed an armchair ride on Master Minded as Paul Nicholls' brilliant two-miler produced one of the best performances ever seen at Cheltenham in destroying the previous year's winner Voy Por Ustedes by 19 lengths. The result was never in doubt as he pulled clear from halfway. It was a similar story 12 months later.

Kauto Star - Gold Cup (2009)

Walsh and Kauto Star shared so many big days, but their performance to regain the Gold Cup was extraordinary. After winning in 2007, Kauto Star had been beaten by Denman 12 months later. However, he turned the tables on his stablemate in some style as Walsh rode him with supreme confidence to come home 13 lengths clear for a Nicholls-trained one-two.

Denman - Hennessy Gold Cup (2009)

Walsh described Denman's 2009 Hennessy success as the "best weight-carrying performance" of a horse he had ever been involved with. It is hard to disagree, with 'The Tank' dishing out a three-and-a-half-length beating to stablemate and subsequent dual Grade One winner What A Friend - to whom he was conceding 22lb.

Big Buck's - World Hurdle (2011)

The third of four wins for Big Buck's in the stayers' championship was not straightforward, because Walsh dropped his whip as they took the lead before the final flight. The horse then hung left to add to his rider's troubles, but it did not stop the pair going on to gamely defeat young pretender Grands Crus.

Kauto Star - King George VI Chase (2011)

Kauto Star sent Kempton racegoers into a state of mass hysteria and consolidated his position as the most acclaimed National Hunt horse since Arkle with an unprecedented fifth victory in the King George. Seemingly on a downward spiral when trounced by Long Run the year before, and at his nadir when pulled up at Punchestown in May, Kauto Star exacted a revenge as stylish as it was popular - jumping perhaps as well as he ever did.

Hurricane Fly - Champion Hurdle (2013)

One of the most memorable of Hurricane Fly's 22 Grade One wins was when he became the first horse for 38 years to regain the Champion Hurdle. Walsh knew the horse inside out and nursed him home from Rock On Ruby as Willie Mullins' star overcame the quick ground and a track that never really suited him.

Quevega - Mares' Hurdle (2013)

Winning the same race at the Festival six years in a row is a remarkable feat -and while all were memorable, the fifth of Quevega's successes is the one that stands out - because she had a lot to do after being hampered at the top of the hill. It looked like the golden run might come to an end - but Walsh knew what he had under him, and Quevega surged into top gear to turn defeat into another victory.

Faugheen - Champion Hurdle (2015)

Faugheen was the star of the show on a day that featured an amazing Mullins four-timer. It was always going to take something special for Walsh to give up the ride on Hurricane Fly - but after leading from pillar to post in the championship event, it was clear just why he did.

Annie Power - Champion Hurdle (2016)

A costly faller in the Mares' Hurdle in 2015 when looking certain to win, Annie Power deserved her day in the sun after owner Rich Ricci stumped up £20,000 to supplement her. Walsh was determined to make it a strong test - and after The New One led to the first hurdle, where he jumped right, Annie Power took over and was never headed. Her victory saw her become just the fourth mare to win the two-mile championship, emulating Dawn Run in 1984.

Douvan - Ryanair Novice Chase (2016)

A clash with Sprinter Sacre or a path that would lead to the Gold Cup featured on the fascinating list of options for Douvan after he rounded off a spectacular season with another faultless display, this time at Punchestown after victories at Cheltenham and Aintree. More on his toes before the off than in the past, perhaps feeling the effects of a long campaign, it was business as usual once the tapes went up for Douvan - and he was arguably never better as he trounced The Game Changer by 11 lengths.

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