Oisin Murphy understands how a single win can impact a rider’s career. That’s why he hopes his victory aboard Byzantine Dream in Riyadh can open the door to more opportunities aboard Japanese horses internationally, with a view to gaining a short-term JRA (Japan Racing Association) licence again in the future.
Murphy, 29, ended his three-year wait to win aboard a Japanese galloper overseas when he unleashed Byzantine Dream from the rear of the field for a comfortable victory in the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap (3000m) at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
The rider punched the air with a beaming smile as he returned to the winner’s enclosure in the colours of Kazumi Yoshida, wife of Northern Farm supremo Katsumi. It was his first win on a Japanese-based horse since the shock victory of the Yoshito Yahagi-trained Marche Lorraine in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (1800m) in November 2021.
“It’s been ages since I won on a Japanese horse overseas so it’s a really nice feeling,” Murphy told Idol Horse in Riyadh. “It was a dream just to get on him, so it’s even better to get the job done, especially for some very important owners.
“I’ve ridden for them a fair bit but I haven’t ridden in Japan for a while now, so it’s nice to get back on such a good horse on a really big day. I hope the owners watched but it was 2am in Japan so it might have been a little bit late.”
Murphy’s love for Japan was born when he spent a short-term contract riding on the JRA circuit at the end of 2018. He notched a good tally of 25 winners in his six-week winter stint and signed off with a sublime five-timer at Tokyo, which was headlined by a Grade 3 victory.
On his return to England in 2019, Murphy’s association with Japanese gallopers continued. Almost two decades on from Japan’s first win in a Group 1 in England – Agnes World in the July Cup in 2000 – Murphy partnered Deirdre to an historic success on the Sussex Downs.
The Mitsuru Hashida-trained mare was the first Japan-based runner at Goodwood’s marquee festival and Murphy made no mistake springing a shock in the G1 Nassau Stakes.
Murphy was in full swing in his second Japan stint less than five months later when he tasted Group 1 success in one of the biggest races on the planet, the Japan Cup. That win on Suave Richard was yet another signal that the then 24-year-old from Killarney in the south of Ireland was fulfilling his precocious potential and emerging as an international big-race talent.
That winter contract, which ended in February 2020, turned out to be his last in Japan.
Murphy received a three-month ban after he tested positive for metabolites of cocaine during a drug test in France in July 2020, while a breach of Covid-19 regulations and a pair of failed breath tests saw the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) hand him a further 14 months out.
He returned to the saddle in February 2023 and has since celebrated Group 1 winners in Britain, France and Hong Kong as well as his fourth champion jockey title at the end of last season.
Murphy seems to be putting his troubles behind him and he hopes that time, along with successes like Byzantine Dream in Riyadh, will help his case as he tries to return to the lucrative and prestigious JRA sphere. But Japan’s elite circuit takes a stern line on disciplinary matters.
“I hope I will be able to,” Murphy said. “We’re going to keep trying and we’ll see what happens.”
Before then, he will get another chance to celebrate atop a pair of Japanese gallopers when he heads to Dubai this weekend for Super Saturday.
Murphy teams up with Yahagi to ride the exciting American Stage in the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal (1200m) before hopping aboard T O Saint Denis in the G3 Burj Nahaar (1600m).
“This weekend is massive for me,” Murphy said. “The sprinter, American Stage, comes into the race in really good form, and the miler, T O Saint Denis, is a very good horse as well. It’s a great opportunity so hopefully we can have another good weekend.
“It’s a great time of year if you are getting these sorts of rides. It’s brilliant when they win or run well and it’s always good when you’re going somewhere with good chances. It definitely makes getting on the plane a lot easier, that’s for sure.” ∎
