In the latest Sporting Life Racing Podcast star guest Oisin Murphy says he’d ride Relentless Voyager over stablemate Fairbanks in the Sky Bet Ebor at York on August 24.
Murphy rode Fairbanks to a comfortable success in the bet365 Trophy at Newmarket’s July Festival last week and immediately highlighted the Ebor as a possible target for the Andrew Balding-trained horse.
The handicapper has pushed Fairbanks up to a mark of 100 following his Newmarket win, giving him every chance of getting in the £500,000 heritage handicap on the Knavesmire, but, while Murphy was impressed, he’d still rather be on Relentless Voyager at York.
Relentless Voyager hacked up at Epsom in handicap company on Derby day and was third in the Listed Sky Bet Race To the Ebor Grand Cup Stakes over the Ebor course and distance last time, while he was due to run in the abandoned Old Newton Cup at Haydock.
Murphy said on the podcast: “I just think Andrew’s other fellow – and he hasn’t confirmed it with me he’s going so someone better ask him – Relentless Voyager, although he’s going to have a lot of weight, is a better horse. He’s a faster horse and he’s an easier horse to ride.
“As for Fairbanks, I spoke to Andrew earlier last week and I asked if we could have blinkers on instead of a visor. The difference with a visor is that they can see a little bit behind them, as there is a narrow slit, whereas with blinkers they can’t.
“It certainly helped him concentrate, but he also got very keen halfway down to the start and I was saying to myself, ‘have I done the wrong thing’ because this guy was just about controllable.
“Anyway he was good and he concentrated. I think between the three and the two he dipped under 11 seconds and he was a class apart.
“He’s obviously hard fit now from racing, but, although he didn’t end up going that fast in the early stages, he still really took me on and would’ve gone very fast if I didn’t get into that argument with him. Normally when they do that their chances are finished.”
It was a superb July Festival for Murphy who rode five winners in two days at the track, the highlight being Giavellotto who won the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes when dropping back to a mile and a half.
“He was so good,” Murphy said. “He was so relaxed and he had an option to pull in the small field. We split into two groups and it’s hard to tell from the camera angle but I felt like I had a lot of ground to make up on Arrest off a medium tempo, giving him the weight.
“So you have to give him full credit for being able to pick him up and be so dominant at the winning line.”
But does Murphy think he could be competitive in a Group One at 1m4f?
“I do, I think that sort of performance puts him in the mix in some of them. But I think the Irish St Leger is the right race and gives him his best chance of winning a Group One. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for him between now and then.”
Murphy also chats about his other Newmarket winners, a possible Sky Bet Melrose horse that he rode at Ascot, Tamfana’s fourth at Longchamp and this weekend’s ride on Weatherbys Super Sprint hopeful It Ain’t Two at Newbury – and you can listen to the full conversation right here.
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