Olly Murphy

Oliver ‘Olly’ Murphy is the son of well-known bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy and retired trainer Anabel Murphy (née King). A former amateur rider, Murphy Jnr. spent four years as assistant trainer to Gordon Elliott before taking out a training licence in his own right, at the age of 25, in 2017. He is based at Warren Chase Stables in Wilmcote, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

A dual-purpose trainer, Murphy saddled a winner with his very first runner, Dove Mountain, in a mile-and-a-quarter handicap at Brighton in July, 2017. In the 2017/18 National Hunt season, he saddled 47 winners, including Hunters Call in the Grade Three Racing Welfare Handicap Hurdle at Ascot, and won nearly £383,000 in prize money. In 2018/19, he increased his seasonal tally to 82 winners, including Itchy Feet in the Listed Matchbook Time To Move Over Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton and Fielsole in the Core Spreads Sussex Champion Hurdle at Plumpton, and his total earnings to nearly £663,000.

In his fledgling career, Murphy has yet to saddle a winner at the Cheltenham Festival, but trained Thomas Darby and Itchy Feet to finish second and third in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2019, so it must surely only be a matter of time before he breaks his duck at the March showpiece meeting. At the time of writing, he has saddled 20 winners from 86 runners under National Hunt Rules in 2019/20, at an increased strike rate of 23%, so remains one to keep an eye on in the training ranks.