INJURY-STRICKEN RUBY Walsh is hoping he’ll be fully back in action in a matter of weeks rather than months, as he targets a return for May’s top-class meeting at Auteuil.

The 38-year-old has had a bad run over the past few months, his most recent fall at Cheltenham aggravating a fractured leg which left him sidelined at Punchestown Festival last week.

Walsh originally broke his leg last November following a fall from Let’s Dance at Punchestown, and made his comeback at March’s Cheltenham Festival only to be set back further as he came off Al Boum Photo in the RSA Chase.

He lost his race to be fit last week, but is now eyeing a return in France on the weekend of 19/20 May, which features the Grand Steeplechase de Paris and the French Champion Hurdle.

“I’d love to make May 19 in Auteuil,” the Kildare native told At The Races.

“But that will be up to my surgeon. He wouldn’t let me ride at Punchestown, so I’ll go back to him in a few weeks and see what he says.”

He previously told Paddy Power, while confirming his absence:

“My surgeon was happy with the progress my leg is making and how it’s healing but he wasn’t happy enough to let me ride next week. Such is life, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.

“My surgeon wasn’t happy so I have to do what I’m told at some stage in my life.”

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