There are few greater characters in Irish sport than Ted Walsh.
As a jockey, Walsh won at Cheltenham and claimed the Irish amateur jockeys title 11 times. Now a trainer, Walsh is a regular pundit for horse racing coverage and appeared on the Late Late show alongside jockeys Rachael Blackmore and Paul Townend on Friday night.
During the course of that interview, Walsh opened up on his interactions with 'the royals.' He explained that their relationship goes some way back.
I rode with Prince Charles in Cheltenham in the '70s. Not to make a jockey out of him but he had an ambition to ride as an amateur. Hard job to make a jockey out of him now. The old physique wasn't exactly jockey material. I wouldn't say he mucked out too many anyway.
He went to explain that was not his priority at the festival: "All we wanted to see was Princess Diana. We weren't too interested in Charles now. We had never met her in person, we didn't get to meet her now but we got as close as we were going to get. We got a good old gawk. Up to expectations anyway."
As he often does, Walsh struck a nice balance and also explained why their influence was "great for racing" and went on to praise all they bring to the sport.
