Katie Walsh is to follow in the footsteps of her elder brother, Ruby Walsh, and represent Ireland at Ballarat’s inaugural two-day jumps racing festival.
Walsh will be part of the Irish team in a four-race Australia-versus-Ireland challenge at the meeting in August.
She won the 2015 Irish Grand National and said she was honoured to receive an invitation to ride in Australia.
“I cant wait to head to Australia to fly the Irish flag at Ballarat,” Walsh said.
“Ruby spoke really fondly of his experience at Ballarat last year and the passion of Australian jumps racing fans, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to head down under.
“Ruby tells me that Ballarat is a good test of a horses stamina and a jockeys tactical ability and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Walsh will be joined on the Irish team by three Australian-based Irish riders, while Australia will be represented by four local jockeys.
The riders will be selected based on the Australian jumps racing jockeys’ premiership as at August 8.
Ruby Walsh won the 2015 Grand National Steeplechase on Bashboy with this year’s race on August 21 given a $100,000 boost to $350,000.
