10 hours ago
8
How could Oisin Murphy do it? It was the question that kept being asked, over and over, on Monday, April 28 on one of those glorious evenings at Windsor, when sun shines and the crowd hums.
It had been 41 hours since he had been involved in a car accident so serious a female passenger was hospitalised and Murphy was arrested, for 'causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to provide specimen for analysis'.
Word travels quickly in an industry such as horseracing and upon hearing of Murphy's predicament, many expected the horses for which he'd been booked that night to require new riders. Sources allege the Champion Jockey had been at a party in Reading in the hours before the crash.
Murphy, we learned during a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court, had 66mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system when he was subsequently tested at police station at 7am; police had been called to the scene of the accident at 12.15am. It is astonishing detail.
Had it been down to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Murphy wouldn't have been legged up on Sea Founder, a three-year-old trained by Richard Hughes for prominent owner Abdulla Al Mansoori in the one-mile maiden at 530pm, but their attempts to impose a suspension failed.
Was Murphy physically in the right condition to be on board a thoroughbred? Racecourses have strict protocols that must be passed before jockeys go out to ride, including breathalysers, but there he was, in a set of yellow and black silks. He wasn't just on board – he won.
Oisin Murphy was fined £70,000 and banned from driving after his involvement in a car smash
But the champion jockey has barely flinched despite the incident leaving a woman in hospital
Murphy had the honour of meeting the King after winning the King Charles III Stakes last year
All the shock of crashing the vehicle, all the trauma of understanding the female he had been travelling with was receiving urgent medical care – none of it was evident as he brought Sea Founder through with a perfectly-timed run, looking typically artistic in the saddle.
'Kieren Fallon talks about not being perfect but I'll ask you: how did he manage to win an Arc with the court case he was facing the next day?' Murphy asked me during an interview at Salisbury racecourse last October. 'It takes incredible mental strength. You need to be brazen, almost.
'You need to forget about the troubles in your life and the impact it could have on you to focus on a horse race. The Arc is the one race I want to win more than any other and him winning it on Dylan Thomas is the most memorable moment of my childhood, from a flat racing perspective.'
He told me plenty that day. This particular excerpt came from a section when we talked about riders with demons and he immediately cited Fallon in 2007, when he conjured one of the greatest rides ever seen at Longchamp 24 hours before appearing at the High Court over race fixing charges.
Reading it again, how revealing is it? Murphy has gone about his business in the last nine weeks, riding 64 winners – worth a combined total of £1.5million – from owners such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Owen, Lady Lloyd-Weber and leading bloodstock operations. He's barely flinched.
Even last Friday at Doncaster, the day after his charge became public, he was in the weighing room without a care. Some of his behaviour has been met with a growing sense of mystification by his colleagues. And remember: the £70,000 he's been fined will barely make a dent in his finances.
Equally mystifying has been how some people have continued to book him for rides but as Peter Collier, owner of a handicapper called Annexation whom Murphy rode to finish second at Doncaster told me: 'He is the best. When I knew he was available, I wanted him. He was amenable to us.'
Quite how he's been that way is hard to fathom. For this is the latest, self-inflicted storm to come howling into his town and his rap sheet makes for gruesome reading. In 2022, there was a 14-month ban after breaching Covid rules, misleading the BHA and two alcohol breaches.
Murphy has gone about his business in the last nine weeks, riding 64 winners
This is his latest, self-inflicted storm and his rap sheet makes for gruesome reading
This has been an embarrassment for racing and nobody will forget his ability to self-destruct
Events spiralled for him after he lied to racing's governing body about a trip he had taken in September 2020, telling them he had gone to Lake Como – which was then on the safe to travel list – when he had instead gone to Mykonos.
That preceded him a pub fracas in October 2021 with a leading bloodstock agent. Murphy was stood down from riding the following day, having failed the breathalyser test at Newmarket. Having been embroiled in a battle to win the jockeys championship, he'd been using drink as a crutch.
Alcohol made him a different person and, as we reflected on those misdemeanours that afternoon at Salsibury, he spoke with unexpected honesty. A fourth jockeys title was about to be presented to him, on Champions afternoon at Ascot, but he insisted sobriety was his biggest achievement.
'My focus while I was banned was staying sober, putting my life back together and using the time to make sure I was ready for when the BHA give me the green light,' he explained. 'I just know I can't have a drink. I don't want it to spiral out of control.
'When I do stop riding, I want to be happy with the way my career ended. Whether that is the next five years or 10 years, it won't be much longer than that. The only way I can do that is by staying sober. I genuinely believe that. I'm sorry. I'm jumping from loads of topics here.'
The question only he can answer now is whether he has lost that focus and, if so, when did it happen? The industry is rife with rumours, none of which paint him in a good light but none of which can be committed to print because they cannot be substantiated. If he has slipped, he needs help.
Still, he will carry on regardless. He rides in New York tonight and nobody has come out to condemn him. The BHA's inability to impose a sanction, too, is just as staggering. This has been an embarrassment for the sport.
At his best, this 29-year-old had the capacity to get people engaged in the sport with his honest video appraisals on social media, following good and bad rides, well received. On horseback, he makes you think of the late, great Walter Swinburn with poise, skill and timing.
The good stuff, though, doesn't get remembered when you plough a car into a tree or you fight or flout rules when the vast majority are playing it by the book. He had the ability to forget about his troubles on horseback. It's a shame nobody will forget his ability to self-destruct.
