Irish eyes were smiling after the J J Houlahan Hurdle at Ballarat but not from the ones the crowd had come to see.

Champion Irish jumps jockey Ruby Walsh brought the crowd to Ballarat for Grand National Steeplechase day but he couldn't fill a place in the first of two rides at the meeting.

It was left to fellow Irish riders Tommy Ryan, John Allen and Paul Gallagher to lead an all-Irish trifecta in Sunday's feature hurdle race.

Ryan's mount Vatuvei scored by a length from Westsouthwest (Allen) with Urban Explorer (Gallagher) 15 lengths away third, relegating Walsh into fourth spot aboard Arch Fire.

"He's on my turf now," Ryan said with a glint in his eyes.

"It's great to get one up on him as he's got plenty up on us down through the years at home."

Ryan said he and Walsh were great mates from their riding days in Ireland.

"We used to live down the road from each other at home and I used to get lifts off him going racing because he had a driver," Ryan said.

Ryan said Houlahan Hurdle winner Vatuvei would be a better steeplechaser saying the Peter Moody-trained hurdler was one of the up-and-coming jumpers of the year.

"It's not easy for a novice to take on seasoned horses and I know he was getting weight off them but he still had to go and do it," Ryan said.

"He's doing nothing wrong over hurdles but I think you'll see a better horse when he goes jumping fences."

Walsh described the Ballarat track as similar to Cork in Ireland.

"The track rode well," he said.

"I was travelling well until three (jumps) out and then it became real testing ground and the first two found another gear and we were left plodding along."