Image © Healy Racing
Gary Murphy has his string in top form at present and has saddled an impressive five winners from only eleven runners this season achieving an admirable 45% success rate.
Former amateur rider Gary Murphy hung up his riding boots in 2019 and whilst trying to decide which career path to take, an opportunity arose to train from Francis Whelan’s Cudgley Stables. Murphy sent out his first runners in the 2021/22 season, starting out with ten horses in harness, his operation has grown to around 25 horses with plenty of room for more.
Since obtaining his handler’s license, Murphy trained two winners in each of the previous seasons, but has dominated the four-year-old division in recent weeks having sent out four winners in as many weeks with the most recent of those winners at Durrow last Sunday where he sent out a one-two in the opening race.
With Cheltenham winning jockey Barry Stone booked to ride debutante Crafted Pearl, it appeared that she was the stable first string, although the Rob James-ridden Magic Gloves, who pulled up on her debut start at Borris House, was only beaten a length and a half, the stable companions dominated the race and pulled ten lengths clear of the third placed Jury Time.
“Crafted Pearl came out of her race great, and the mare that was second came out of the race well too, and both will be sold,” Murphy said.
“The grey mare, Crafted Pearl will likely go to Aintree, and I’m not sure if we will try to win one with Magic Gloves before she’s sold.”
The previous weekend, the Murphy/Stone combination were in the winners’ enclosure at Ballyragget with another promising looking youngster in the form of Hidden Fortune.
This bay daughter of Soldier Of Fortune was ridden off the pace and made smooth progress to lead before three out, she kept on well to score snugly. The victor was an €18,500 purchase at the 2024 Tattersalls May Store Sale and is another that will be sold in due course.
“We expected her to win, she was very good and will go to the sales ring somewhere, if not sold at home.”
Crafted Pearl leading home stablemate Magic Gloves at Durrow
The first four-year-old mare produced to win by Murphy in early March, was the Walk In The Park-sired Chosen Comrade who posted the fastest time on the card when winning the first division on challenging underfoot conditions at Borris House beating Robert Tector’s Shukran Habibti, who subsequently fetched £150,000 in the ring at the recent Tattersalls Festival Sale.
“Chosen Comrade has already been sold privately to stay in Ireland.
“They all worked together in a schooling bumper and finished within a couple of lengths of each other. I said to myself that I either have a very good bunch of fillies or a very bad bunch! Thankfully they all turned out to be good fillies.”
Murphy unveiled another future star later on the same card at Borris House when the Kingston Hill-sired debutant Moments In Time put in an exhibition of jumping and romped home to a 24-length success in the four-year-old geldings maiden. The grey was purchased for €20,000 at last year's Goffs Arkle Sale.
“Moments in time was very impressive, he done his job very well at Borris House,” remarked Murphy.
“Myself and a good friend Mark Scallan bought him last year and from day one he was just a proper racehorse, and we were very bullish about him from the start and we didn’t hide it.”
Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton have purchased the Borris House victor and he is now in training with Skelton in Britain.
The 35-year-old, who rode around 40 winners as an amateur, spent a long time working with Michael and Ashleigh Murphy at Redbridge stables and is delighted with how things are working out for him at Cudgley Stables where most of the horses run under the banner of the Turbine Syndicate.
“There are four of us riding out every day. Barry Stone, Sean Staples and a few of the other lads come in to school regularly too.
“I’m very happy with the horses at the minute, they are very healthy, and touch wood, I can keep them healthy.”
Murphy seems to do well with mares and explained: “I’ve ended up with a lot of mares, I couldn’t afford to buy big fine geldings so I’ve concentrated on buying nice fillies and I’ve been lucky so far.”
The Gavin Cromwell-trained Cheltenham Grade 1 Arkle runner-up Only By Night, began her racing career with Murphy when winning her four-year-old maiden at Lingstown back in November 2022.
Looking ahead, Murphy indicated that he has plenty of nice youngsters yet to make their debut over the coming weeks, and hopes to add to his tally of winners.
