Oisin Murphy: Mount Rushmore | Latest blog on exciting newcomer, Kameko, Newmarket reflections and more

Newmarket review: Stunning future

It’s always great to go to Newmarket and ride winners and I had a couple of nice ones at the July Festival, although Threat, my big hope in the Darley July Cup, was disappointing.

He travelled well in the first two thirds of the race and then when I asked him to quicken and go with them at the business end it just didn’t happen.

I haven’t spoken to Richard Hannon since the race, but I’m sure they’ve run tests on him. That’s racing, they’re not machines and hopefully he can bounce back.

I was delighted for Cieren Fallon who won the race aboard Oxted, he’s a nice kid with a big future, so well done to him and Roger Teal on their success.

It wasn’t to be for me in the big one, but in Youth Spirit and Stunning Beauty I rode two winners that look to have big futures themselves.

Youth Spirit won the seven-furlong maiden nicely and I think he’ll be a miler in time. I was hopeful before the race having sat on him at home recently and it was great that he delivered.

Stunning Beauty was very good. She’s a little bit hot, she wears a rug and a blind in the stalls but she’s actually a very easy ride. I think she could go a very long way and she’s exciting.

Sir Busker has gone up 5lb to 107 after his second in the Bunbury Cup and he deserved that hike in the ratings. I held him up, as he likes it, and he came with a run that looked like was going to be enough, but he hung a little bit.

He likes to come through horses and I’m convinced there’s another big race in him.

I was a bit disappointed with Time Scale in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes. I just thought there was a lot of upside to her, but hopefully she’ll bounce back and fulfil my opinion of her.

There will be plenty of options for her in the coming weeks and months, she might go for the Princess Margaret at Ascot next and she’ll be kept pretty busy I would think.

Windsor double: Alright on the Night

Windsor is normally one of my more successful tracks and the fact it’s down the road makes it all the better, so it was great to get a double there on Monday night a week on from my treble at the same course.

Andrew Balding’s horses remain in great form and the two-year-old, Night On Earth, appreciated the drop back to five furlongs from six, and he looks a straightforward horse for owners that are relatively new to the yard.

Stanford’s not a very big horse, so I didn’t want to get into a physical match early on. I took my time a little bit on him and often the rail does open up at Windsor when they’ve gone a genuine pace.

A Sandown treble on Thursday evening brought up my 50 for the season, too, and it's great to have a nice lead in the jockeys' championship already.

Ubettabelieveit was the highlight in the National Stakes for Nigel Tinkler, he's a very speedy juvenile, while Ed Vaughan is a family friend of my parents and it was wonderful to win on Magic J for him on the day he announced he was quitting the training ranks.

I'm sure he'll be a success in whatever he does next and good luck to him.

Single meeting rule not ideal for me

There has been a lot of support from the weighing room in regards to the one meeting a day rule for jockeys becoming a permanent thing.

Obviously it was brought in as a short-term thing due to the pandemic and plenty clearly like the situation as it has given more opportunities to the guys that didn’t get such opportunities in the past.

My stance is that I’ll go with what the majority want. From a personal point of view, though, it’s not ideal.

If I wanted to ride one in France in the afternoon and then come back for Kempton in the evening, which I’ve done a fair bit, as they tend to race very early over there, I won’t be able to anymore.

If I have to go somewhere for Qatar Racing for one ride in the afternoon, I won’t be able to go onto an evening meeting later on and ride, so it’s not a great situation from my point of view and I’m sure other jockeys that are retained by owners feel the same.

It will be frustrating, but it’s not a one-man show. I also have the best interests of other jockeys at heart and if they feel it’s the best thing for them then so be it.

Kameko in great shape with Sussex likely

Kameko worked with his normal lead horse on Wednesday morning and we only breezed four furlongs but I was really pleased with him.

He’s come out of the Derby in very good shape and I couldn’t be more pleased with him – and neither could Andrew or the lads that look after him every day.

There are three options for him; the Prix Jacques le Marois, the Sussex Stakes and the Juddmonte International, but it does seem as though we’re leaning towards Glorious Goodwood.

The track at Goodwood won’t pose any problems, no track poses a problem for Kameko as he’s got so much pace and he’s a very nimble, good-moving, well-balanced type of horse.

You could run him down a mountain and he wouldn’t get unbalanced.

I thought before the Derby that Epsom wouldn’t pose any issues and it didn’t, he was simply outstayed, but the way he came around Tattenham Corner confirms that he’s a very straightforward horse.

The Sussex Stakes is a prestigious race, as is the Juddmonte International, but he could take in both contests and it would be great to see who is the best of the Guineas winners if he does come up against Siskin at Goodwood.

Saturday Rides: Newbury

12.30 – Horn Of Plenty

She’s a staying type of filly in the making and she hasn’t done much wrong so far. I saw her working the other day and she looks very easy and in good form. Rated 77, that gives her a chance in your average Newbury maiden, but with 14 runners who knows what’s lurking in there.

1.05 – Rushmore

I’ve ridden Rushmore a lot at home and we really like him. He was an expensive yearling, £500,000, but he’s shown all the right signs at home. We haven’t taken this fellow off the bridle at all yet, everything he’s done on the bridle, the reason being he’s not the strongest frame of horse and we don’t want to be too hard on him at home. I’d expect him to travel very well through the race and hopefully he can finish off and win.

1.40 – Isla Vista

Another Qatar Racing newcomer but I don’t know this one quite so well. Sir Michael Stoute trains her and she’s got a beautiful pedigree, from a lovely Japanese family. I haven’t ridden her at home, Sir Michael’s usually improve for a run and it would be nice for her to show a good level of ability on debut.

2.15 – Method

I’ve ridden Method at home, before his first start, and I really liked him. He then went and won by over four lengths on debut from Fev Rover, who franked the form at Newmarket, and though that was a huge first run I thought he’d improve from Doncaster. Martyn Meade’s yard have had a good start to the season and he looks to have a high level of ability.

2.50 – Tonyx

I ride a fair bit for Ed Walker and this one’s unbeaten in two starts. She looked really nice at Salisbury on her first run and she followed up under a penalty at Newcastle next time out. On that evidence she’s better on turf and she’ll have a chance in what looks a hot little race, with Tomorrow’s Dream and Able Grace also respected.

3.25 – Tribal Craft

She’s a very tough filly and it would be lovely to get some black type for her. She’s in super form at home and after she won for me at Kempton last time I expected her to be rated higher than 94 going into this. I didn’t have the choice between her and Shailene, Andrew made that decision for me, but I can tell you Shailene has been working really well. Ryan Moore rides her. It’s a competitive race, but hopefully we can get into the first three.

4.00 – The Tin Man

I can’t wait to ride The Tin Man in the Hackwood Stakes. He felt really good at Ascot but just lacked that race sharpness. I broke fine, but they went pretty quick and I was just caught out for a little bit in the middle part of the race. He deserves to be one of the favourites here, he’s been there and done it and he didn’t run badly at Ascot as I was way out of my ground. He’s definitely improved from the Diamond Jubilee, it’s hard to say he’ll be as good as ever when he’s eight, but it’s also hard to get a horse his age match fit without a run. If he’s come on for Ascot, and I think he has, he should be hard to beat.

4.30 – Bertog

The owners have a lot of good horses with Ed Walker, like Sunday Star, and it would be nice to ride them a winner. John Mackie trains this one and he won at Doncaster two starts ago on good to firm ground, so he’s forgiven a subsequent below-par run on soft at Haydock. He doesn’t look badly treated off 71 given he was rated 76 a couple of years ago.

5.00 – Kingston Kurrajong

This horse has been around a bit and I know him from when he was at Andrew Balding’s. He’s fairly handicapped off 77, that was his last winning mark after he won at Epsom last September. On this year’s form he needs to improve, but William Knight’s horses have been flying since he moved to Newmarket so hopefully this one can run well, too.

Jet all set for Chantilly on Sunday

I’m really looking forward to going over to France on Sunday to ride The Lir Jet in the Group Two Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly.

It’s a four-runner race and he meets the Coventry Stakes winner, Nando Parrado, over five-and-a-half furlongs.

It does look like it’s between Clive Cox’s horse and us, it looks like good race planning from both trainers. Neither carry a penalty but both of them would’ve had penalties in the July Stakes.

He felt very good on Saturday morning and has been ticking all the boxes since Royal Ascot, Michael Bell is very happy with him.

The slight step up in trip will be no problem to him and he’s very straightforward, a very easy ride.

More from Oisin Murphy

• Column 16: Major Threat
• Column 15: Highest ambition
• Column 14: D-Day for Kameko
• Column 13: Awesome chance
• Royal Ascot: Day five rides
• Royal Ascot: Day four rides
• Royal Ascot: Day three rides
• Royal Ascot: Day two rides
• Royal Ascot: Day one rides
• Column Seven: Kameko all class
• Column Six: A Classic weekend
• Column Five: Racing resumption
• Column Four: Sticky situations
• Column Three: Oisin Murphy's favourite horses
• Column Two: Oisin Murphy's 2020 vision
• Column One: Getting to know Oisin Murphy

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