Murphy Set To Be Crowned Champion

Oisin Murphy’s desire to conquer Flat racing’s highest peaks may see a changing of priorities for the 2024 champion jockey, who will bid to finish his title-winning season on a high with Group 1 glory at Qipco British Champions Day on Saturday.

The 29-year-old, who will travel to South Africa to ride Frances Ethel in the Betway Gr1 Summer Cup at end November, has an unassailable lead over his closest rival Rossa Ryan but has not committed to another championship bid in the spring, choosing instead to make the decision after the conclusion of this season’s title race at the weekend.

“I haven’t really looked past this year to be honest,” said Murphy. “I’ve not set myself another goal of trying to retain the championship. There are a lot of big races coming up until mid-November, so until then I won’t really want to reflect on my workload, and after that I’ll decide what my goals are for next year.

“I’ve only had three Group 1 wins this year and there are many races I haven’t won, with two standouts being the Arc and the Derby. I don’t think the jockeys’ championship got in the way of that, but at the same time I want to weigh all that up and just a have a rethink of what I want to achieve.

“I genuinely think the British weighing room is so full of stars that you really have to be committed to it before the flagfall. I’m not sure how far I am through my career, but I don’t think I’ll be riding into my 50s, so I need to try and be successful while I can.”

The Racing Post reports that Murphy will be officially crowned champion jockey at Ascot on Saturday for the fourth time, surpassing his weighing room colleagues Ryan Moore and Silvestre de Sousa.

The win, which comes ten years after his apprentice title in 2014, is his first championship since a 14-month suspension in 2022 for alcohol and Covid breaches, during which time the championship twice went to William Buick.

“When I was suspended I had a lot of free time and it gave me a chance for the first time in my adult life to just relax and take a deep breath,” Murphy said.

“When things have gotten stressful this year I’ve been able to fall back on that time away from the saddle as perspective to realise how lucky I am to be healthy and back riding at such a level.

“I tried really hard to win it [the championship] last year, but I wasn’t in contention from halfway through the season, so it’s nice to achieve something I set out to do this time.

“This year it was really important to me to not pick up any whip or careless riding suspensions because I could have missed ten or 12 winners. It’s something I’ve worked very hard to achieve with great support from so many owners and trainers.”

Murphy has surpassed 200 winners for the second time in his career and will aim for a final flourish of the season at Ascot’s curtain-closer event on Saturday, with a full book of rides that includes the well-fancied Queen Elizabeth II Stakes contender Tamfana.

The three-year-old filly has risen through the ranks but was without her regular jockey when making her Group 1 breakthrough in the Sun Chariot Stakes last time, with Murphy instead partnering the third-placed See The Fire for Andrew Balding.

“You’re always going to have situations like that, but it’s one of those things,” Murphy said of missing the ride. “See The Fire is a proper Group 1 horse too, and both should stay in training next year, so hopefully we’ll be chatting much more about them.”

Tamfana’s chief threat on Saturday is top miler Charyn, who has not finished outside the top two all season under De Sousa and is drawn next to Murphy in stall eight.

Murphy said: “Charyn has been outstanding and never runs a bad race, so he’ll be a tough nut to crack, and there’s a few others in there with big chances, but Tamfana is very easy to ride and has a good draw.

“I’m pretty pleased with her, she relaxes wherever you want and handles soft ground well. David Menuisier spoke to me yesterday and said he couldn’t be more happy with her wellbeing, she seems like she’s bounced out of her Sun Chariot victory.”

Murphy has three more Group 1 chances at Ascot, with Flora Of Bermuda in the Champions Sprint, King’s Gambit in the Champion Stakes and Fillies & Mares runner Queen Of The Pride, whose sire and dam both won at the meeting.

• www.racingpost.com