Four-times British Champion jockey Oisin Murphy jets into Johannesburg this weekend to take five rides on the Turffontein Betway Summer Cup day programme.
He will return to the UK immediately after the running of Race 9, the Betway Summer Cup Consolation at 16h40.
Murphy’s engagement on a premier day on the SA racing calendar is something of a scoop for Barry Irwin and his Team Valor International operation, who will be hoping that their smashing Rafeef filly Frances Ethel can follow in the footsteps of Summer Pudding (2020), Dancewiththedevil (2011), Flirtation (2010) and the late Ilha da Vitoria (2005) as fairer sex winners of the 2000m contest this century.
Frances Ethel peaked as a 3yo with an eyecatching victory in the Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer Gr2 SA Oaks last term and comes in on 54kgs. She should be more than competitive in a field of 20 headed by KZN star, See It Again.
Murphy’s first ride on African soil will be for Sean Tarry in the second race (11h55), where he rides the debut placer Green Street for leading owner Kenneth Pillay.
In the Betway Gr3 Fillies Mile (14h20) Murphy throws a leg over Fiery Pegasus for Joey Soma. The daughter of Captain Of All ran second to Celtic Rumours last time out in the Joburg Spring Gr2 F&M Challenge but has a very tricky 15 barrier gate to overcome.
Murphy’s third ride will be aboard Wild At War for Candice Dawson in the Betway Gr2 Dingaans (14h55), one of the most open on the cards, and a race that interestingly for racing fans also marks the 3yo debut of Barend Botes’ Lance filly, Quid Pro Quo.
Oisin Murphy is unquestionably one of the globe’s most accomplished jockeys.
Crowned British champion in 2019, 2020, 2021, and this year, he was won 31 Grade 1 races.
His latest championship accolade came ten years after his apprentice title in 2014 and was his first since a 14-month suspension in 2022 for alcohol and Covid breaches, during which time the championship twice went to William Buick.
“When I was suspended, I had a lot of free time and it gave me a chance for the first time in my adult life to just relax and take a deep breath,” Murphy said.
“When things have gotten stressful this year, I’ve been able to fall back on that time away from the saddle as perspective to realise how lucky I am to be healthy and back riding at such a level.
“I tried really hard to win it [the championship] last year, but I wasn’t in contention from halfway through the season, so it’s nice to achieve something I set out to do this time.
“This year it was really important to me to not pick up any whip or careless riding suspensions because I could have missed ten or 12 winners. It’s something I’ve worked very hard to achieve with great support from so many owners and trainers.”
Murphy has a busy schedule ahead as the year winds down and just a week after his Turffontein raid, we could see him at Sha Tin in Hong Kong where he has been lined up to maintain his partnership with Giavellotto in the Gr1 Hong Kong Vase on Sunday, 8 December 8.
Marco Botti’s five-year-old entire enjoyed a fine season, winning the Yorkshire Cup in May and the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting.
He was last seen finishing third to Kyprios in the Irish St Leger, but Botti has held the belief for some time that a strongly-run mile and a half could be the ideal scenario for his stable star.
“We had a chat with the owner, and they are happy to take a chance. We’ve had a bit of time to freshen him up since the Irish St Leger, he’s in great form and he’ll take his chance,” said Botti.
“Last year, they had soft ground at the meeting, but he does want top of the ground, so hopefully it won’t be soft again. This year has been his best season. Maybe he wasn’t just quite at his best in the Irish Leger. I’m not saying he’d have won, Kyprios is the best stayer, probably in the world, so we take our hat off to him, but saying that, I just don’t think he was at his best for whatever reason. He came out of the race fine and we had enough time in between. The plan has always been to drop him back to a mile and a half, so Hong Kong looked the right option, a strong pace will suit him.”
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This is exactly what I commented about, it’s not marketed, nor sold as a travel or holiday packages. What happens before and after, we have so much to offer visitors and tourists.
I sincerely hope those involved are not only interested in horseracing, rather on how to diversify the horseracing industry.
The very best to all concerned.
Habib says, So was I the problem
Iam probably going to be in the minority here but you got to question the wisdom of getting an international jock who does not know the horse, track or conditions to ride in a G1.
It’s the UK jumps season so popular riders like OM will be riding in different countries / continents every week – his travel schedule must be exhausting.
How many Balding or Qatar Racing Horses would OM not work before the Derby, Royal Ascot or the Breeders Cup meetings. They thought he could just jet in and be on par with local riders.
I disagree completely with Frederick Cochrane about international jockeys, we should be inviting more of them here for our big meetings.
International jockeys bring class and glamor to our top meetings, and brings international interest and viewership to our product. We should even be inviting our “expats” like Hewitson, Ferraris, Teetan and Kennedy back for the big events like the Met, July, LKP and Summer Cup. Our jockeys are no longer the best- the era of Marcus, Coetzee, Lloyd, Khan, Marwing, Roberts and Neisius are long gone. And if it rains on the big days, the local boys will start crying! Whenever a Dettori, Moore, Soumillon or Piggot came to ride there was always a sense of expectancy! And testing our locals against the world’s best is always good for all stakeholders.
So I hope we have a few international riders at the upcoming Cape premier events.