Olly Murphy is the latest face to enter the racing scene, and is definitely a man to follow in the upcoming season. The young and ambitious 27-year-old learned his trade with Irish trainer Gordon Elliott, and is now hoping to follow in his footsteps in terms of big race glory.
Based in Warwickshire, he left Elliott’s yard last May after he was pipped to the Trainers Championship by Willie Mullins at the Punchestown Festival. He opted to go do things on his own, and his very first runner proved to be a winner when Dove Mountain scored at Brighton on the flat last July.
The first two he sent over jumps finished first and second at Market Rasen in the summer of 2017, with the winner defying odds of 16-1.
Murphy owns a yard with 65 stables and room to expand, two horse walkers, sand rings and starting stalls. Other facilities include a 7f Fibresand gallop and a state of the art Wexford sand ½ mile circuit, which is modelled from Gordon Elliott's.
Although the name is new, Olly has not quite come from nowhere. His father is Aidan Murphy, who was a successful National Hunt bloodstock agent - who buys most of Philip Hobbs’ horses. His mum, Annabel, has also trained several horses on the Flat.
During the summer and the off-season, he has proved to be Mr Consistent by dominating race cards, with 28 winners from 128 possibilities, but that tells half the story.
He has recorded 97 prizes from those runners, meaning over three-quarters of his horses have finished in the places. He has won connections over £150,000 in prize money entering only his second season as a dual licensed trainer.
Looking ahead, he has some big names with the dawn of a new season approaching, and his prime target for the season will be to train a winner at the Cheltenham Festival.
He has claimed the services of three-time champion jockey Richard Johnson to ride many of his horses during the summer as he looks to progress.
However, it could be a few years before we speak his name alongside the likes of Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls, but he certainly a trainer on the upward curve.