Oisin Murphy

Oisin Murphy (born 6 September 1995) is an Irish horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. In October 2019, he became British Champion Jockey.

Oisin Murphy
Oisin Murphy on Roaring Lion at the 2018 Breeders' Cup
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1995-09-06) 6 September 1995 Cork Ireland
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Weight	8 st (112 lb; 51 kg)
Racing awards
British flat racing Champion Apprentice (2014) British flat racing Champion Jockey (2019)

Murphy is a nephew of three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Jim Culloty and grew up in Killarney, County Kerry. His ambition as a boy was to be a show-jumper, but after he sat on a racehorse for the first time at the age of 14, that changed.[1] He learned his classic riding from his uncle Don before his maternal grandfather introduced him to flapper racing, at which he was very successful while also competing successfully in showjumping.[2] His uncle made him cry when training him because he was so bad.[1]

He made an instant impact in his first year as a professional jockey in 2013, riding a four-timer at Scottish Racing’s Ayr Gold Cup day in September,[3] including the Ayr Gold Cup itself, before going on to ride a winter in Australia, mainly for Danny O'Brien and gaining a total of 13 winners.[4] Some British jockeys resented his success, which resulted in some violent incidents in the weighing room. Murphy concedes he was "probably a little cheeky".[1]

He gained his first Group success when partnering Hot Streak to victory in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock in May 2014 and went on to be crowned British Flat Racing Champion Apprentice later that year. A second Group 2 came in the German 2,000 Guineas on Karpino in May 2015, followed by his biggest prize up until that point - the Ebor Handicap on Litigant in August.[5]

In 2016, he became number one jockey to Qatar Racing[6] and won 10 Group races on 10 different horses, including Lightning Spear (Celebration Mile) and Simple Verse (Park Hill Stakes).[5]

He gained his first Group 1 victory at the 2017 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting aboard the Martyn Meade-trained Aclaim in the Prix de la Foret.[7] He has since gone on to ride eleven more winners at the highest level, notching his first two Group 1 winners in the UK in the Qatar Racing silks on Roaring Lion in the Coral-Eclipse[8], Juddmonte International Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Lightning Spear in the Qatar Sussex Stakes.[9]

In June 2019, Murphy tested positive for alcohol in a breath test. Although he was under the legal drink-driving limit, this was over the limit for race riding and he had to miss a day's racing at Salisbury. The incident affected his racing, and he dropped behind in the jockeys' championship, having been 12 wins ahead.[1] However, he caught up and in October became the British Champion Jockey. He stated his aim was to remain champion, while also winning big races.[1]

He is an ambassador for the QIPCO British Champions Series and writes regular blogs for their website. He can speak four languages, including German.[1]

He has spoken of his admiration for older jockeys such as Kieren Fallon as well as contemporaries like Silvestre De Sousa and Jim Crowley, but his idol is Frankie Dettori after whom he named his dog and whom he credits as being the best jockey he has raced against.[1] Dettori has provided support to Murphy as he has progressed in his career.