Oisin Murphy takes a Summer Cup walk

Within hours of his plane touching down in Joburg, UK champion jockey Oisin Murphy was walking the course at Turffontein in blazing sunshine, checking out the condition of the turf ahead of his ride in the R6-million Betway Summer Cup over 2000m on Saturday.

Meticulous preparation makes for champions.

Greg Wood, racing writer for London’s Guardian, describes Murphy as “an intensely thoughtful and analytical rider, who assesses his own performances and the form of top-level and day-to-day racing in granular detail”. He adds: “Relentless attention to the detail and nuances of race-riding has been a hallmark of Murphy’s career from an early stage.”

For the 29-year-old Irishman it was never going to be a case of dropping in to South Africa to pick up the cheque for a publicity stunt.

He is indeed a star turn on the big day at the Big T but has expressed determination to do his utmost to win Joburg’s premier race and repay the faith of people who brought him all the way from Britain just to spend a couple of minutes in the saddle of a filly called Frances Ethel.

Master class on Roi De France

Murphy has won major races all over the world and aims to add a South African Grade 1 to the list. The most historic race in the country’s economic centre would do nicely.

He comes to Turffontein in the best possible form, his last race in England being a sensational effort on the all-weather track at Kempton Park last week.

Riding favourite Roi De France in a mile handicap for the top training team of John & Thady Gosden, Murphy found himself trapped behind a wall of six horses as the field pounded down the short finishing straight. The race commentator yelled, “Can he get through?”, but didn’t sound optimistic.

The jockey showed no impatience, sitting sphinx-like, watching his flailing colleagues ahead. When half a gap opened, Roi De France was urged through and got up to win by a nostril.

It was a race-riding master class and reminded us of the words of Barry Irwin, American co-owner of Frances Ethel and the man responsible for Murphy’s trip to Africa.

“Oisin is my favorite British/European rider,” said Irwin when he announced the Summer Cup booking.

“He reminds me a lot of Bill Shoemaker, of whom it was often said that he bothered a horse less than any other jockey. Oisin is just the same. And he rides with such confidence that he transmits this feature to his mounts. It is beautiful to watch.”

UK champion again

Murphy was crowned UK champion last month with 163 winners, 53 ahead of runner-up Rossa Ryan, at a phenomenal 22% strike rate. It was his fourth title – the others coming in 2019, 2020 and 2021 – and was a heart-stirring comeback from a 14-month ban for failing alcohol breath tests and breaking Covid rules.

In October, he told The Guardian that regular counselling had helped him tackle his erstwhile drink problem and the stresses of competing at the top level.

“Just this morning, I had counselling, and I have that twice a week, and that’s been going on since October 2021,” Murphy said before Champions Day at Ascot. “That’s definitely a huge help, and important to me.

“When I was suspended … I had a lot of free time, and it gave me a chance … to just relax and take a deep breath.

“When things have got stressful … I’ve been able to fall back on that time away. It adds perspective to realise I’m very lucky to be healthy and back riding at such a high level, and it’s not the end of the world if I go a few days when I haven’t been successful.”

Murphy hasn’t decided about defending his title and hints he may focus instead on increasing his tally of Group 1 wins.

“There are many races I haven’t won,” he says. “I need to be successful while I can. There are two standouts, the Arc and the Derby, and they both are equally important to me.”

He didn’t mention the Betway Summer Cup, but he will be forgiven if he does the job on Frances Ethel.