Walsh blazing a trail among jockeys

THE IRISH TIMES/IRISH SPORTS COUNCIL SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS:SO, HOW many times has Katie Walsh watched re-runs of the Grand National when she finished third on Seabass, trained by Ted, her father, making her the highest-placed female jockey in the history of the race? "I have my Sky+ button nearly worn out," she admitted yesterday. "The machine must be sick of looking at me. And I'm only half-way there, I'll be watching it plenty of times again."

Three weeks on, Walsh is still on a high after a gruelling race in which only 15 of the 40 starters finished, with two horses dying on the course.

If that outcome dominated the discussion in the aftermath of the race, it didn’t take away from the 27-year-old’s achievement.

Charlotte Brew was the first female jockey to ride in the National, back in 1977, and since then 18 more have taken part, many of them on rank outsiders, seven completing the course.

A few years back the late and incomparable Ginger McCain, trainer of Red Rum, declared that “horses do not win Grand Nationals ridden by women”.

Walsh came closer than anyone to proving him wrong.

“Ah yeah, it was great for girls, I suppose it showed what we can do when given the chance,” she said. “I think his price was so short in the end because every woman was putting a fiver on him.

“It was just absolutely fantastic, an unbelievable experience I’ll never, ever forget. I love looking back on the race on my own, on that overused Sky+ button, just re-living it all. It was a special day. It was a dream come true for me just to get a ride in the race, but to be placed at the end was fantastic.”

Despite looking like she might win the race in the closing stages, Walsh has no regrets, no sense of “what might have been”. “He gave his heart and soul, he couldn’t have given any more, he was just beaten by two better horses,” she said in reference to winner Neptune Collonges and second-placed – after a photo finish – Sunnyhillboy.

“I thought going over the Melling Road he was going to win and we’d see history, but Katie said there was nothing left in the horse at the last,” said Ted Walsh after the race. “But she’s got further than any other woman has, and one day a woman will win the National. We’ll think about next year, but when Edmund Hilary got to the top of Everest you didn’t ask him how he was going to get back up again.” It was in March 2010 that Walsh won the first of her Sportswoman of the Month awards, after she had two winners at Cheltenham. “People go through their racing careers without even riding one winner at Cheltenham, I never ever dreamt I’d get two – to be honest with you, I hardly dreamt I’d get one,” she said at the time. “I’m all up in the air, I still can’t believe it.” She’s back up in the air again after Aintree, and has made herself a contender to succeed her sister-in-law, Nina Carberry, as 2012 Sportswoman of the Year.

MONTHLY WINNERS: awards so far

December

Fionnuala Britton (Athletics). The Wicklow runner emulated Catherina McKiernan’s 1994 European Cross Country Championship success by winning gold in Slovenia.

January

Jessica Kurten (Equestrian): After a difficult year, when she lost her most experienced horses following a dispute with their owner, Kurten bounced back with her first major Grand Prix victory in 12 months.

February

Fiona Coghlan (Rugby): Coghlan captained Ireland to their most impressive Six Nations’ campaign yet, the team beating Wales, Italy and Scotland, losing by a point to France and holding England level at half-time in their Triple Crown match before the champions pulled away in the second half.

March

Audrey O’Flynn (Hockey): The Cork woman was a member of the Irish team that reached the final of their Olympic Qualifier in Belgium, where they lost to the hosts, her eight goals in five matches making her the tournament top scorer.

* Awards cover Dec ’11 to Nov ’12