Tag Archive for: Chelmsford

Smart James Tate performers all set for action this week

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The James Tate duo of Iconic Moment and New Definition are set to cross paths again in the Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions Stakes at Chelmsford on Saturday.

The pair faced one another in the Listed Spring Cup Stakes at Lingfield earlier in the month, where Iconic Moment maintained his undefeated record to prevail by a short head from his stablemate.

A winner of two prior novices, Iconic Moment is a lightly-raced son of Harry Angel who looked green during his Listed triumph, but has obvious ability that Tate hopes will be enhanced by a step up to a mile – and transfer to turf in time.

He said: “He’s a horse with a lot of talent and potential, he hasn’t quite got it all together yet but despite that he is three from three.

“We think stepping him up to the mile is going to help him so that will be interesting for both of them on Saturday because they’ve both only raced as far as seven furlongs so far.

“So far he has only run on the all-weather, but he’s certainly bred to run on grass and goes nicely on grass.

“The question is what level is he going to be, but I’d like to think he’d be running in Group races over seven furlongs or a mile on the turf hopefully.”

New Definition is a more experienced horse and will make his 13th start at the weekend, with his pedigree familiar to Tate as he trained both the dam, Second Generation, and the grand dam, El Manati.

Both were good quality sprinters and the colt is by Invincible Spirit, leaving the trainer pleasantly surprised by how the three-year-old has handled a step up in distance.

He said: “It’s been a bit of surprise that’s he’s getting the distance because he’s from a family I know well, I trained his dam to win a five-furlong Listed sprint and I trained his grand dam to just get touched off in the Cornwallis.

“He’s by Invincible Spirit so you’d have thought he’d be all about speed, but he does seems to have stepped up his form a little bit in his last two runs over seven (furlongs) so this run over a mile will be interesting, and I’d be pretty confident he’ll be every bit as good on the grass.”

Tate has also used the all-weather to bring on the promising four-year-old Mount Athos, a wide-margin winner of two novice events last year.

Taking a Thirsk contest in June by five lengths and a Kempton event in October by the same distance, the bay will now return to the latter track over course and distance on Wednesday rather than take up a Listed Cammidge Trophy entry at Doncaster on Saturday.

“We did toy with the idea of putting him in at the deep end in that Doncaster race, but by the looks of the forecast it is going to be pretty soft and there’d be a lot of unknowns about that,” said Tate.

“We’ve decided to stick with what we know he’s good at, he won over course and distance at Kempton by five lengths on his last start and he looks to have improved over the winter so we’re very hopeful for Wednesday.

“We’d like to think that he’s a Pattern horse, but he obviously needs to prove that on the track.

“We’ve a few nice ones this year, I hope, but we’ll find out a bit more about them when we run them against everyone else’s nice ones!”

Oisin Murphy makes winning comeback at Chelmsford

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Oisin Murphy made a winning return to the saddle at Chelmsford on Thursday evening, following his 14-month ban for alcohol and Covid breaches.

The three-time champion jockey had just the one ride when partnering the Mick Appleby-trained Jupiter Express in the second race on the card, the Winning Connections Networking Handicap.

He had not ridden in public since November 2021 – but wasted little time in getting on the scoresheet, travelling smoothly on the inner aboard the 15-8 favourite and swinging into contention on the home bend.

There was no catching The Horse Watchers-owned four-year-old from there and he was always holding runner-up Thismydream, scoring by half a length at the line.

“It’s fantastic (to be back),” Murphy told Racing TV after the race.

“It’s been a while, but it’s brilliant to be back on the racecourse and to also ride a winner as well.

“I’m quite fit and I really enjoyed that. Even the banter in the weighing room I really missed that.”

He added of Jupiter Express: “We felt like we could sit on the rail just behind the leaders and the horse was coming into the race in good form.

“It was a relatively easy job for me and great to get another winner for these connections who are quite shrewd with their purchases and they make effort to put them in the right races. So it was very pleasing to see me jocked up a few days ago for this horse.

Jupiter Express and Oisin Murphy (centre) coming home to win the Winning Connections Networking Handicap at Chelmsford City Racecourse
Jupiter Express and Oisin Murphy (centre) coming home to win the Winning Connections Networking Handicap at Chelmsford City Racecourse (John Walton/PA)

“I hit the front plenty soon and I felt for this grade the pace was quite strong and we were always going to be vulnerable to a closer if hitting the front before the furlong pole, so sharpness-wise I’m going to have to keep thinking about racing all the time and hopefully that instinct will come back quickly. But I will be making every effort to make sure I’m riding as well as I can.”

Murphy will now head to Qatar at the weekend to ride Flaming Rib for Hugo Palmer with trips to Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also pencilled in over the next few weeks and he hopes his match sharpness will soon return.

He continued: “I’ve been riding out throughout my suspension and it can’t replicate race-riding. That competitiveness and sharpness to make decisions it doesn’t really matter grade or what distance, that only comes from race-riding.

“It was quite a long time to find new jobs and tasks to get through the day. Obviously you ride out but that only kills a few hours a day and I got into a routine of focussing on my show jumpers and riding and training them outside of the mornings and I really enjoyed going to some big show jumping competitions and watching horses taking part.

Oisin Murphy on Jupiter Express after winning the Winning Connections Networking Handicap at Chelmsford City Racecourse
Oisin Murphy on Jupiter Express after winning the Winning Connections Networking Handicap at Chelmsford City Racecourse (John Walton/PA)

“I also kept my eye in by going racing, I was at Royal Ascot and also Glorious Goodwood and my main trainer Andrew Balding had a terrific year last year and I remained part of that success I felt anyway.

“That was a brilliant motivation to go forward and a major factor in having this day as my focus for such a long period.”

The British Horseracing Authority announced last week Murphy will undergo increased alcohol and drug testing after he was found to have failed two racecourse breathalyser tests, at Chester and Newmarket.

At the conclusion of a hearing in February last year it was revealed he also breached Covid rules by lying about his whereabouts in September 2020, visiting the Greek island of Mykonos, which was on the Covid ‘red list’ at the time, but attempting to convince officials he had been at Lake Como in Italy.

Murphy – who told BBC Sport in June last year he had experienced alcoholic blackouts during the period which ultimately led to his suspension – was keen to pay tribute to the support provided his employer Qatar Racing and also long-time ally Balding, while also expressing a desire to atone for his errors.

“Realistically (what I did) it was very silly and I made many, many errors that I wish I hadn’t done,” he added.

“I was given a period of time to think about that and come back with a different mindset. Hopefully over next year and the following years I can prove to be the person I hope to be.”

On his reception and welcome back, he said: “It’s been incredible, when you start naming people you leave people out, but from my family to the Baldings to the whole of the Qatar Racing team, I never felt left out.”

Oisin Murphy returns to action at Chelmsford on Thursday

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Oisin Murphy returns to the saddle with one ride at Chelmsford on Thursday, following his 14-month ban for alcohol and Covid breaches.

Murphy, a three-time champion jockey, will partner the Mick Appleby-trained Jupiter Express in the second race on the card, the Winning Connections Networking Handicap.

The British Horseracing Authority announced last week that Murphy will undergo increased alcohol and drug testing after he was found to have failed two breathalyser tests.

He has not ridden since November 2021, and in February at the conclusion of a lengthy hearing, at which it was revealed he also breached Covid rules by lying about his whereabouts in September 2020, he was told he could not reapply for his licence until February 16 this year.

Oisin Murphy (right) took part in a parade of jockeys who had ridden for the Queen on Derby day last year
Oisin Murphy (right) took part in a parade of jockeys who had ridden for the Queen on Derby day last year (Tim Goode/PA)

Jupiter Express is owned by The Horse Watchers syndicate, which is partly run by jockeys’ agent and broadcaster Chris Dixon, although Gavin Horne will continue to look after Murphy as before.

“Gavin had asked Mick if there was anything he could ride when he was available,” said Dixon.

“Tom Marquand rode Jupiter Express to be second last time, but he’s in Australia now so the jockey who rode him last time wasn’t there and this was an opportunity for him to have a ride when he came back.

“Mick was always going to support him, he’s ridden plenty of winners for him over the years – and us – so when a top jockey is available we are not afraid to use them. We’re happy to give him his first ride back.

“He’s got a decent chance. He’s been freshened up since his last run as he’d been a little busy and we’d aimed at this card ever since really.

“He’s got a decent chance, he’s in good form and hopefully there’s a little bit of mileage in his handicap mark.”

Murphy is due in Qatar at the weekend to ride Flaming Rib for Hugo Palmer with trips to Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also pencilled in over the next few weeks.

Coral make Murphy their 15-8 second-favourite for a fourth championship behind last year’s winner William Buick, who is their 1-2 favourite.