Amy Murphy will launch a new satellite yard in France over the coming months in order to target the greater prize money across the English Channel.
The Newmarket-based trainer has secured a temporary base of 15 boxes at the beautiful training facilities of Lamorlaye, near Chantilly from 1st April to 1st July 2022.
Murphy said: "We have always targeted races in France as much as we can with the right type of horses. We have had some good results over there and obviously the prize money is out of this world compared to England.
"Towards the autumn last year, we thought we should look at trying to get a bit more of a base out there, certainly for the first few months of the Flat season, to try and target more of the two-year-old races over there and races for the older horses as well."
Dual-purpose trainer Murphy joined the training ranks in 2016 after spells with Luca Cumani and in Australia with Gai Waterhouse. Amy and her partner, Lemos De Souza, will split their time between the yard in France and their current base in Newmarket.
Murphy said: “We are going to have a team based out their full time. I have got two really good members of staff that will be based there and then Lemos and I between us, will be in France and Newmarket at all times. Effectively there will be a trainer at each establishment 24/7.
“In terms of horses we have got a team of at least 8-10 that will probably stay out there if all goes well, and then half a dozen will to and fro. It is not going to work for every horse and if that is the case then we will switch it with a different one. We are still looking to add to the team and we are hoping to attract one or two new owners along the way. If anyone would like to join us on our French adventure, then please do get in touch”.
“We are hoping to have a variation of horses, we have had a few there for the winter to get them a French handicap mark so we can have some for the handicaps as well.
“We took a horse over there in November, he won a claimer, got claimed and picked up £40,000 in the process. He would have been running round for £5,000 in England – it really does make a difference, even for the British bred horses.”
France is well known for its lucrative system of Owners’ premiums on top of already generous prize-money, with owners able to increase their winnings by up to 80% for French bred horses, depending on their age and the type of race they win. This is something Murphy and her team will be looking to target.
Murphy said: “It is a fantastic initiative that France Galop offer and I think it’s definitely made a difference to what we have bought over the last six months. We have really tried to target the French bred horses, knowing that we were going to be heading over there."
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