Olly’s A ‘Villan’ – And Looking For A Grade 1

A lifetime Aston Villa supporter, British trainer Olly Murphy is based at Warren Chase Stables in Wilmcote, only a stone’s throw from Stratford Upon Avon. He is currently at fifth in the British Trainers’ Championship standings. He chats about the season and the Cheltenham Festival that will be held from 11 to 14 March.

With Cheltenham on the near horizon now, Murphy, who was born in Carnaross, County Meath Ireland, was asked how his yard was shaping up and how preparations were going?

“We are not going to have a massive team but we’ll half a dozen to eight for the handicaps more so than Graded races. Obviously, the handicaps haven’t closed yet, we’ll hopefully go there with some each-way chances.”

How would you assess your season so far? A 24% strike rate, fifth in the Trainer’s Championship and second only to Dan Skelton in terms of number of winners – it’s going quite well, isn’t it?

“Things have been going great. All that’s been missing this season is Grade 1 winner. Numbers wise we are well ahead of where we usually are. And we’ve added quality as well. We are certainly looking forward to spring now.”

What’s been the trigger?

“Experience certainly helps. A slightly better type of horse and having Sean Bowen as a stable jockey and just learning year upon year. Rome was never built in a day, and it was always kind of the same with Warren Chase. It was always going to improve over time.”

Do you feel happy now that you can rub shoulders with the best?

“I think so. We have plenty of quality among the quantity as well. We are now an established big yard in National Hunt racing now and hope it will stay that way for a while and we will keep improving on what we are doing.”

Sean Bowen is a great jockey and has a great chance of the title this year?

“I think he can. He’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s a big asset to me and we’ve got a really good working relationship. I don’t see any reason why he can’t be the champion. He’s riding better than ever and hopefully we’ve still got plenty of ammunition to run now for the rest of the season for him.”

What’s the thing about Sean that makes him stand out?

“His dedication, his work ethic and obviously he’s got a lot of natural ability. He’s been a good rider for a while now, but he’s still got youth on his side. He’s a great judge of pace and he’s just a very, very good all-round jockey.”

Would you say he’s the best around?

“I personally think he is. We’ve got some very good jockeys in Britain at the moment with Harry Skelton, Harry Cobden, Sam Twiston Davies and Gavin Sheehan among them. He’s riding as well as anyone, if not better than everyone. Confidence also plays a big part. I like to think I instil confidence in him and vice versa, he instils confidence in me as a trainer as well. That’s a big thing in sport. And when you’ve got plenty of confidence, it comes out in your riding.”

You were part of Gordon Elliott’s team for four years. What makes him so special and what did you learn from him?

“I speak to him plenty. He’s been very good to me since I have come home. He keeps everything simple. He has a good team around him and a good routine. He’s obviously very good at his job at training racehorses as well. He keeps himself in the best company and gets winners at all levels. He’s very good at that.”

Was Don Cossack the best you were associated with when you were over there?

Yes, him and Tiger Roll when I was around. There was another very good horse called No More Heroes who got a bad injury in the RSA. Tiger Roll and Don Cossack were two very special horses and shouldn’t forget Apple’s Jade. I learned loads there and had a fantastic time there.

Elliott is part of a pretty dominant Irish training scene with the three big super yards. What is it that makes them stand out?

“They’re very, very good trainers, they have an awful lot of horses and they are spending an awful lot of money on horses and they are winning most battles in the sales ring. It’s pretty straightforward to be honest! Do I think Gavin, Gordon and Willie are better trainers than the best in England? No, I don’t. They are very good at what they do but they are training a lot of quality as well. They have got big owners, they’ve got big spending power, and they’ve got a lot of horses that cost plenty of money with good pedigrees and when you’ve got enough of them, you tend to win more than people that don’t. It’s so important that you’ve owners that will go and win in the sales ring that will give you that chance to go and win on the race track.”

There are a lot of issues facing British racing and prize money is the main one.  Is it as bad as everyone makes out?

“Our premier days now are a big improvement of what they have been in recent years. But there are still certain tracks here putting up appalling prize money, and certain tracks which are making a big effort. And it’s just plain as day to see now – without me naming any – tracks that are putting on £6,000 for a handicap and £3,500 quid for a bumper, they should be ashamed of themselves and they theoretically shouldn’t be supported. But we’ve got that many horses training in England, we’ve got to run them, so we have to end up supporting those races to one, get young horses started, and two we’ve got that many horses to run we can’t run them all in the same races. So, we end up having to support bad prize money which is theoretically not the way it should be happening.”

Where do you stand on the suggestion that broadcasters should pay for access to trainers for post-racing thoughts?

“It was all put across wrong in the aspect of trainers wanting to get paid. Trainers aren’t wanting to get paid. Trainers are wanting money from these media rights to be going back into the sport and going back to our owners. It’s not that trainers want money to speak to the media. Trainers want the media rights that are going to racecourses that are putting up s**t prize money to go back into owners’ prize money, which it isn’t doing. Something was said and fair play to Dan Skelton for standing up and making a point. His intentions were in the right place and he was theoretically looking out for owners more so than himself.”

Festivals like the DRF and Punchestown are big beasts in their own right now. Are they a threat to Cheltenham?

“The Holy Grail is still Cheltenham. Willie Mullins will tell you that, and so will Gordon Elliott. But the Irish festivals are fantastic festivals in their own right; they do it right as well, they get fantastic crowds there. They get well supported by good runners and hopefully more British runners will be able to support those festivals in time. They’re two fantastic festivals I’d love to kind of support in the future when we’re that little bit more established again.”

If you were in charge of the sport, what would you change? Have you had a magic wand? What would the single thing be that you would like to introduce, or you would introduce?

“The most obvious thing to say is better prize money and less bad racing. We dilute our sport by having 0-95s and 0-100s and too much bad racing. We need less bad racing and put more money into the better races. I appreciate I still have got a lot of owners, a lot of syndicates that haven’t got the money to potentially perform at that better level. But if you get rid of some of this bad racing it’s only going to entice people to get a better horse or try and get a better horse and compete at a better level. We’ve got that much bad racing, it’s too easy to go and buy a bad horse and compete in bad racing and I just think we should have less of it.”

Tell us one thing that the public doesn’t know about you?

“I’m a big Aston Villa fan. I love spending my time at Villa Park now or at an away ground in the Premiership when I’m not racing. It would be my one release away from horse racing. They are my local team. I’ve got hospitality down there and take a lot of owners. I’ve supported them since I was a boy”

Your ambition in life outside racing?

“To see Villa win the title!”

Within racing?

“Be a champion trainer and compete at the top for many years to come.”

• Don’t miss the Cheltenham Festival from 11 to 14 March on Gallop TV.