Treble wins for Murray on Champions day

ONLY five months as a fully fledged jockey, Callan Murray showed his true colours on Champions Day, notching up three superb wins.

The last leg of the Triple Crown, Champions Day, which incorporates the popular Intercontinental Village Day, was held on May 6 at Turffontein Racecourse.

The 20-year-old had a busy day at the office and all to smile about as he confirmed his status as a young, enthusiastic jockey who will surely leave his mark as one of the top in the country.

Murray, who hails from Kensington, won the 2016 Racing Association Feature Season Award for Champion Apprentice Jockey some five years ago, though he had no interest or history in the sport of horse racing at all.

Tall but slender, Murray attended Reddam House until Grade Nine. He joined the South African Jockey Academy in Grade 10.

His big day came on Champions Day, where he won three Grade 1 races on the trot.

It was the biggest win on Deo Juvente for trainer Geoff Woodruff and South Africa’s leading owners, Mayfair Speculators.

Murray steered Deo Juvente home, pipping favourite Legal Eagle on the line in a time of 124.66 seconds in the R4-million Grade 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge.

Craig Zackey on Nother Russia came through on third.

Murray’s first win came on Mustaqeem in the SA Nursery Grade 1. Then came the Computaform Sprint Grade 1, where Murray made no mistake on Rafeef, both horses trained by Mike de Kock.

With that the Highveld season drew to a close at Turffontein Racecourse.

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