No more for Murtagh

By Alan Conway

Four jockeys in six years. The departure of Johnny Murtagh has left the biggest job in European racing free. But who will take it?

The decision by Murtagh to leave to many wasn’t a surprise. Indeed there were racecourse whispers that the partnership was in trouble as far back as mid-summer. It is hard to understand why as the Murtagh/Coolmore combination have enjoyed tremendous success in the last number of years.

Dylan Thomas, Peeping Fawn and Septimus all enjoyed victories with the assistance of Murtagh before he became retained rider for Ballydoyle in 2008. He then enjoyed a wonderful season when the stable won 23 Group 1 races. The last two seasons have been quiet by Coolmore’s standards. However this year they still bagged eleven Group 1 races. Not a bad return at all.

If it wasn’t professional reasons that made Murtagh leave Ballydoyle then there have to be personal issues at play. One feature of the season from a Ballydoyle perspective was the continued promotion of the stable’s apprentice Joseph O’Brien. The obvious example of this was when O’Brien won on Beethoven in the Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown last August.

Latterly there was more of an emphasis on Joseph winning the apprentice title than on Murtagh winning the flat title. At Navan in October Ballydoyle had four winners on the card, Murtagh the stable jockey, was only on one of them. Murtagh is a world-class jockey. He wouldn’t make three wrong decisions on one card. Politics is a feature of every working environment. Perhaps Murtagh tired of the political issues at Ballydoyle.

All the jockeys that have occupied the Ballydoyle job must have been under a lot of pressure during their respective times in the plate. The modus operandi of Ballydoyle is to produce stallions for Coolmore. The jockey has the most important job in the yard. If he messes up then the horse and his future as a stallion suffers. A cool, cold and calculating jockey is required. It’s why the job came too quickly for a young Jamie Spencer. One could imagine that the intense way of life in Tipperary became too much for Murtagh.

Looking forward the number of obvious candidates for the job is narrowing all the time. Pat Smullen has already ruled himself out of the running, I can’t see the logic of bringing Christophe Soumillon or Kieren Fallon into the fold. Soumillion blows hot and cold and I don’t think the structured life at Ballydoyle would suit his personality.

Fallon turned 45 this year. I can’t see the rationale in bringing him in for a season or two then replacing him again. In recent days Steven Arnold, who rode recent Coolmore purchase So You Think in Australia, came in for high praise from Aidan O’Brien.

In my view Colm O’Donoghue deserves a crack. Although he doesn’t have the star quality about him as Fallon does. I also wonder if Declan McDonagh has been keeping an eye on developments down Tipperary way.

By Alan Conway