Oisin Murphy: 'I can't wait to get back but I know it won't be easy'

This is a free sample of Natalie Green's brand new Weekender Q&A, in which the top broadcaster and journalist speaks to big names in racing

Oisin Murphy traded the Racing Post for the Chelsea match programme last weekend, spending his time assessing Chelsea’s huge list of new transfers rather than the form of the Sprint Cup as he made the trip to Stamford Bridge to watch his team take on West Ham in the Premier League.

Times have changed for the three-time champion jockey following his 14-month ban from the sport for Covid breaches and conduct prejudicial to the sport’s reputation as well as two positive alcohol tests.

Murphy has been using the enforced layoff to rehabilitate so he is ready to come back stronger and better than ever in February and has found many new passions during that time – Chelsea being one of them – but horses are still very much central to his life.

What have you been up to and how have you kept
busy?

I’ve never been able to sit still. Last winter I went drag hunting a lot, twice or three times a week. Then before and after Christmas I was showjumping every weekend out in Spain on the sunshine tour.

From early spring I started riding out for Andrew Balding and in Lambourn and Newmarket. My life has continued to revolve around horses, but’s just been more sports horses rather than racehorses.

I basically make a plan for every day and put things in my calendar, as small as taking the dog for a walk or going to an AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] meeting or counselling session.

I have a virtual session once a week and then a face-to-face session once a week with the same person and I combine that with riding out and all the showjumping I do. The time passes quickly.

I’ve also been to a lot of weddings this year. Usually, when I’m riding, I can’t go to them, so that’s been nice.

So you have still been able to compete in other disciplines?

Yes, plenty in showjumping, most weekends. I did my first British Eventing competition on Monday in Nottingham.

I have no aspirations of being an event rider but the horse went clear in the showjumping and the cross-country, although I forgot my dressage test.

Showjumping is clearly a passion – when did it all start?

I was very spoiled as a child and my mother and father took me all over for jumping lessons and competitions.

I had very good ponies and I really wanted to be a showjumper growing up. I learned German in school because my dream was to train with Marcus Ehning [Germany’s Olympic gold medallist showjumper].

Oisin Murphy: permitted to return to the saddle in FebruaryCredit: Edward Whitaker

As I approached leaving school I had spent a summer at Tommy Stack’s and at Ballydoyle with Aidan O’Brien. I found out Andrew Balding had been contacted and I was going to be sent there and hopefully sign on as his apprentice.

I never really got to live my showjumping dream until this year. I have nice horses up to around 1.35m level and my horses have jumped a lot bigger than that, so they’re really in their comfort zone. It’s good fun for me and it’s been an opportunity for me to pursue a passion.

Can we expect to see you taking out a jumps licence next?

Nicky Henderson promised me I’d get a ride [laughs] but I think Andrew Balding and my parents would be horrified if I said I was riding in a jumps race.

How are you feeling about next season and your return?

The amount of goodwill I’ve received, particularly when I went to the Dublin Horse Show, has been great. You know everyone in Ireland follows horseracing to a certain degree and it really inspires motivation and hunger when people are telling me they can’t wait for me to come back.

The bottom line is that it’s not going to be easy. No matter how much riding out, gym work and simulator work I do, I know I’m not going to be as instinctively sharp as I normally would be when match fit.

Even when I was riding I would go through periods when I felt like I could win on anything and then I would go through periods of self-doubt where I’d believe I wasn’t riding well and wouldn’t be content with my performance.

Coming back in February, I’m probably returning at a little bit of a strange time of year. A lot of the top riders are away and the amount of opportunities I’ll get may not be as good on the all-weather because many of the trainers I ride for tend not to have lots of runners at that time of year.

I hope I’ll have done enough groundwork and riding out that people will be happy to support me and use me again. Hopefully I can go to those big meetings like the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup and link up with the Japanese and all of the people I normally ride for and get going straight away.

It’s all very well for me to plan all of this, but I have to put it into motion. I need luck too to get on decent horses who have a chance to win.

I’ve been very lucky. Anna Lisa, Andrew Balding’s wife, is like a second mother to me. She’s always on the phone, making sure I’m okay and asking when I can ride out.

It’s motivating me that Andrew has good horses in the stables and that I’m going to be part of that. And I hope it’s the same with all the people I usually ride for.

What has it been like watching some of your mounts win this season? Do any stand out in particular?

Alcohol Free was brilliant in the July Cup and watching her win for Rob [Hornby] was great. I was pleased for the horse and the yard and of course the connections. I knew when I was suspended that I was going to miss Group 1 winners and for my best friend to win in my absence, well it doesn’t really get better than that.

Alcohol Free won the July Cup under Rob HornbyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Watching Kieran Shoemark win his Group 1s on Dreamloper, the chances are I would have probably ridden her. But it’s brilliant for Kieran. We were apprentices together and we have done so much together.

Day to day we were in each other’s company three or four times a week and it’s never really changed. So it’s great that he has won on Dreamloper.

What do you think has helped you keep fully engaged with racing?

Royal Ascot helped a lot with the work I did for Sky Sports. I was very grateful to them for giving me that work.

The odd Saturday that I’ve been in the studio with the Racing Post is brilliant fun and it helps me to keep my eye in. I feel like I can give an insight from a jockey’s perspective and it keeps up my enthusiasm to get back riding.

That kind of job has helped me to pass the time. There hasn’t been one standout moment where I’ve curled up into a ball and thought “what have I missed out on?” because I knew this would happen walking out of the hearing.

Sometimes life goes against you and you just have to accept it.
The most important thing for me was I had no self-pity leading up to the hearing and I wanted to remove any idea of self-pity walking out of it as well.

I remember Ralph Beckett calling me and he said: “If you have any idea of appealing, remove it from your head. Use the time wisely and come and show your face and ride out for me when you want to and look forward to getting back.”

I took his advice on board and did exactly as he said. I’m really happy I did that.

Do you feel in a good place now?

Yes, the AA meetings are enlightening and everyone in there has their own story to tell. It can be interesting and also amusing at times, especially when people have been off the drink for 20 years or more.

Oisin Murphy: 'The AA meetings are enlightening'Credit: Edward Whitaker

When they start talking about their past they can have a laugh and a joke about it, so they’re normally a breath of fresh air. If I feel bad going into an AA meeting I always feel great walking out. That’s the key.

A lot of the people follow racing and they’ll ask me what’s going to win on a Saturday, for example. I always say “don’t ask a jockey because we’re terrible tipsters”. In the Racing Post studio I had a lucky York but before that I couldn’t tip a winner.

From now until your return date of February 16, what do you have planned?

My parents have been proactive. My mother has been here for the last two months and my father is coming over to visit.

I’m showjumping over the next two weeks. I have a new horse to ride who has jumped in five-star grand prix. I’ve got my hunters back in and I’ll be getting them fit for the drag hunting season, which isn’t too far away.

I’ll be going to the Arc in October, that’s one of my favourite days of racing, and Champions Day is around the corner. I’m also going to the Melbourne Cup – I haven’t been since I was second on Benbatl in the Cox Plate.

Ultimately, it’s important to me that I keep riding out, keep up my fitness and counselling sessions. I want to be riding horses every day.

Will you chase the title when you return?

William Buick has had an unbelievable year and is riding at such a high strike-rate. He’ll be very hard to compete with. He has built up a strong book of contacts and is very hungry.

I’ll do my best to ride as many winners as I can. I’m hungry too and can’t wait to get back in February.

Read this next:

Who wins the 2022 Cazoo St Leger at Doncaster based on previous trends?

Stay ahead of the field with 50 per cent off the ultimate racing subscription. Enjoy the Racing Post digital newspaper and award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing. Plus, make informed betting decisions with our expert tips and form study tools. Head to the subscription page and select 'Get Ultimate Monthly', then enter the code WELCOME22 to get 50 per cent off your first three months.

First three payments will be charged at £17.48, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter.

Customers wishing to cancel will need to contact us at least seven days before their subscription is due to renew.