Kalashnikov: a stable star who has helped young trainer shine on brightest stage

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Any young trainer in the early stages of their career dreams of unearthing a star to boost their yard’s profile. Kalashnikov has proved that and then some for Newmarket-based Amy Murphy.

In just Murphy’s second season, Kalashnikov – owned by the trainer’s father Paul – sprung to prominence with a memorable win in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and highly honourable seconds in the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown and Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Kalashnikov was a €35,000 purchase from the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale in 2013 but his first few months in training did not go without mishap.

Murphy says: “He’s very quick to whip round and in his first couple of weeks over from Ireland he whipped round so fast that he dropped me and galloped home for two miles through roads and tracks.

“At the time we laughed as there was two of them loose and he beat the other one home but obviously now, knowing how good he is, it wouldn’t be funny!”

Kalashnikov profile

Age 7
Starts 16
Wins 7
Biggest win Devenish Manifesto Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) – 2019
Prize-money £254,489

It was on the final day of March in 2017 that Kalashnikov, nicknamed K at Murphy’s Southgate Stables on the Hamilton Road, announced himself on a racecourse.

A ready two-length bumper success at Wetherby was his sole outing that season and his initial promise was quickly confirmed the following campaign.

A return trip to the West Yorkshire track brought a ten-length romp on his hurdling debut, before a victory by the same margin at Doncaster set up a tilt at the Tolworth Hurdle.

Finishing second to Summerville Boy preceded the trainer’s most memorable day when Kalashnikov ploughed through the mud and rain to land the Betfair Hurdle and a day of mixed emotions when he was narrowly denied by his Tolworth conqueror in the Supreme.

Kalashnikov: won the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices' Chase at AintreeCredit: Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

Murphy, who rides out Kalashnikov every day, says: “The Betfair Hurdle win still stands out for me as that was the day he really announced himself. For a yard in our second season of training it really put us on the map.

“There was a mix of emotions after the Supreme as it was amazing to have such a high-profile runner at the festival but we went the whole last furlong thinking we were going to win only to get chinned in the final strides.

“We went through all of the emotions, like we did at Newbury earlier this season, but it was still a massive thrill and to walk back into the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure with such a fabulous horse for us was great.”

Murphy’s stable star had won two of his five chase starts last season, finishing second twice and unseating in the Arkle, before heading to Aintree for the Manifesto Novices’ Chase for what proved to be the father-and-daughter combination, and jockey Jack Quinlan’s, first top-level winner.

Murphy, whose fiance Lemos De Souza leads up ‘quite a handful’ Kalashnikov at the track, could have told you in the minutes before the off that a big performance was in the offing.

She says: “In his stable Kalashnikov is extremely quiet and a gentleman but outside he’s a bit of a playboy. He wants everyone to look at him and he’s a bit of a show off.

“He gets fresh and can be quite keen when I ride him out. There’s nothing nasty about him – he’s not trying to get you off, he’s just letting you know when you’ve got him spot on!

“That day when he won his Grade 1 he demolished Aintree’s chute like you’ve never seen. That’s how he tells you he’s ready on the track.”

Murphy adds: “We celebrated that win big time. To train my father’s first Grade 1 winner was something I could only dream of, especially as it was my first as a trainer. If you wrote a book on it that would certainly be the first chapter.”

Such a talented and likeable horse, matched with Murphy’s open nature and approach to social media, means Kalashnikov has built quite a fanbase. Sadly his followers will not see him at the Cheltenham Festival after he was found to have bled at Newbury earlier this month, with Murphy’s stable star undergoing tests at the Newmarket Equine Hospital last week.

Murphy says: “We get loads of social media messages about him and nice emails and because we’ve kept him in the public eye he’s sort of a people’s horse.

“We try to keep everyone updated and will do so when we have a clearer picture as to plans going forward.”

‘He’s taken me to places I only dreamed of riding at’

Trainer Amy Murphy, jockey Jack Quinlan and groom Seamus Flaherty celebrate Kalashnikov's Betfair Hurdle successCredit: Edward Whitaker

Jack Quinlan gives a first-person account of why Kalashnikov is so special to him

Kalashnikov is treated like royalty at home and knows just how good he is. Although he’s an incredibly confident horse, he’s a pleasure to deal with. He’s great in his box and a child could deal with him in there.

He marches around the Heath in Newmarket with purpose – there’s hundreds of horses out on the Heath but he thinks they’re all there to see him. He struts around with his chest puffed out and has such a presence.

When the bell goes for jockeys to mount on raceday, he’s intelligent enough to know that means it’s game time and he gets a little fractious and wound up as he’s so eager to get on with the job at hand. His achievements speak for themselves when he gets out on the track and he’s all heart and class.

The tracks he runs at like Cheltenham, Aintree and Newbury have really prolonged walks out onto the course and it gives the public a great chance to see the horses. He really acts up then and swings his back end around to the plastic rails. He only does it to show off and get a reaction. When you walk down the chutes people are shouting their best wishes and good luck and he’s a really popular horse.

You definitely get a sense of how popular he is through social media and on racedays. In his novice hurdle campaign he was just touched off in the Tolworth but came out with a lot of credit then he won the Betfair Hurdle in gruelling mud and his popularity just seemed to grow and grow. Just to be a part of his journey is massive and a pleasure.

For me the Betfair Hurdle win sticks out and is the biggest day of my career. I loved every second of it, the build-up, every moment in the race and afterwards, whereas at Aintree it was all surreal and I couldn’t quite believe we’d won a Grade 1. It really took until the following Saturday, when we had a party back in Newmarket, for the Manifesto win to sink in and to appreciate what we had achieved. In the Betfair Hurdle it hit me crossing the line and I lost it in the celebrations, but I didn’t have any of that at Aintree as it was almost unbelievable.

I don’t believe what I’ve achieved on Kalashnikov has opened any more doors as a jockey but he’s certainly the best horse I get to ride and he’s taken me to racedays that I could only ever dream of riding at.

To be a Grade 1-winning jockey means you’re in a very elite group and you look at the likes of Brian Hughes and Aidan Coleman, who are much more accomplished than me but it took them a long time in their careers to ride a winner at the top level, so I’m very lucky to have done it quite early with Kalashnikov. It’s a huge achievement and really good for your confidence as a rider.

Kalashnikov had a very minor bleed at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day but had trained well at home in the meantime and the vets ran all the necessary tests to say he was healthy and ready to go to Newbury. He had a more sizeable bleed at Newbury which means he’ll need a period of recovery that rules him out of Cheltenham.

He means too much to us and is too valuable to take a chance on, so he will have to pass every test and be 100 per cent if he was to run at Aintree.

He’s still a young horse and has few miles on the clock, so if we have to give him a longer break and bring him back next season then so be it and hopefully he can bounce back to his best.

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