He has been pencilled in to ride for the International team
World-renowned jockey Johnny Murtagh will be one of the big-name riders representing the International side against South Africa at the annual meeting at Turffontein on 15 November.
In a coup for Racing Association CEO Larry Wainstein, Murtagh has accepted the invitation despite the fact that he now has two roles in racing – he’s both a jockey and a trainer.
Murtagh has an outstanding record in the saddle and boasts big race wins on such well-known names as Rock Of Gibraltar, Motivator, Sinndar, Yeats, Henrythenavigator, High Chaparral, Duke of Marmalade, Dylan Thomas, Choisir and Black Minnaloushe who is now a stallion in this country. He rode his first winner at Limerick in 1987.
Now 43, Murtagh is as fit as any jockey in the weighing room and unfortunately we found that out when he rode a terrific finish on Sole Power to snare Shea Shea in the final stride of the King Stand’s Stakes at Ascot in June.
A month later he teamed up with German horse Novellist to score a memorable win in the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes also at Ascot.
Johnny, married with five children, was a keen amateur boxer in his youth and was an Under-14 champion in Ireland. It was at one of his fights that a spectator suggested to his mother that he’d make a good jockey, citing his size, weight, good balance and courage.
He’s never looked back, having won all the Irish classics, all the Grade 1s at Ascot, two Investec Epsom Derbies (Sinndar and Motivator) and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Sinndar). He has won the Irish jockeys championship five times.
Recently, Johnny took out a trainer’s licence and has his yard at the Curragh in Ireland. One of the top horses in his stable at present is Royal Diamond.
Whether Johnny has a ride against Soft Falling Rain in Saturday’s QE II Stakes at Ascot remains to be seen, but bookmaker Paddy Power has surprised many pundits by pricing up Mike de Kock’s star performer as the 9-4 favourite with Dawn Approach at 5-2 and Toronado at 4-1.
One UK scribe (not Neil Morrice!) wrote: “At Newmarket, Soft Falling Rain struck me as a grinder rather than a horse with imperious ability. In a much deeper field at Ascot, he has no business being as short as 9-4.”
The great thing about Saturday’s race is that it will give us more idea where South African-breds (Soft Falling Rain is a son of National Assembly) stand against top European horses. Racing Post have Dawn Approach rated at 127, Toronado at 126 and Soft Falling Rain at 125. Provided the ground doesn’t come up soft, I’m confident our guy will run a huge race.
Mick Goss might have made it to the top of the law profession, but probably not as a schoolmaster.
In the past the instruction to the panel of experts giving their views on the breeze-up gallops at Summerhill of the Emperors Palace Ready-To-Run candidates was that you selected three colts and three fillies.
Now there’s plenty of cause for concern about some schools in this country, but this class got out of control. The following must all report for detention – Alec Laird, Simon Vivian (he may appeal as it was his first visit) and particularly Graeme Hawkins and Muis Roberts. The latter two came up with 13 and 10 choices respectively.
Full marks to Sean Tarry, Dean Kannemeyer, Joey Ramsden and Craig Peters who knew the rules and picked three colts and three fillies each.
Now the joint most popular colt – selected by Messrs Ramsden, Tarry, Vivian and Hawkins – was the Encosta De Lago youngster out of the four-time winning Aussie mare Bella Princess (lot 104).
In true Mick Goss fashion it’s been named Intandokazi. I’m sure the Summerhill boss will enlighten on its meaning for those of us whose extra subjects at school were Latin and French. The name is also unlikely to delight our commentators – Igugu was easy as she only had five letters.
