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I see the previous Murphy Thread was taken down , as he court case has now finished hopefully this can stay up , pleaded guilty and hit with a ban and £70k fine ( he stated his weekly wage was £1250 , unless I can’t count then his riding fees alone are much more , plus £250k annually in prize money ) , in the mail today it’s questioned that if the BHA should have banned him , there is no doubt he’s a top class jockey ( the only one in my eyes up there with Moore ) however he has previous and sadly doesn’t look to be learning , I really fear he’s going to end up wasting his talent
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Unfortunately, you may be right HDLG.
Ultimately, it’s up to Oisin himself to take the necessary steps to wean himself off the demon drink. Alcoholism is a disease, and needs to be treated but only the individual can take the necessary steps.
I see no reason for the BHA to ban him from racing.
His personal problems are a matter for his friends and family to take action.I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways( he stated his weekly wage was £1250 , unless I can’t count then his riding fees alone are much more , plus £250k annually in prize money )
Id suspect that the riding fees and prize money are paid to a company and that there is a directors salary paid monthly.
The figures for the salary are available at Companies House under Oisin Murphy Racing Limited.Well, if I would be a race car driver I wouldn’t want to be racing against someone who drinks regularly even on the job and who falls breath tests. Most likely a jockey could think the same. You also wouldn’t want to lose a decent riding job to someone who doesn’t want to receive the necessary treatment. First it was the cocaine, now it’s the drinking. He should sort out his problems first before getting back on a horse.
What’s are the riding fees now , that may well be the case but I still think £1250 is on the low end , I suppose he won’t ride as much in the winter … I imagine going forward he’ll be asked regularly to do the on course tests …
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
The Riding Fees paid for 2025 are available on the PJA website, there is also a booking fee paid. These are subject to agents fees etc.
I don’t see alcoholism as a disease it is an addiction and any addiction can be stopped you just need the correct mindset. Without a long story I stopped drinking last September after a warning from my doctor, you could argue I was a functional alcoholic whatever that is. I was advised on groups to help but I said that won’t be necessary I just stopped there and then it is a mindset, I am sixty and had been drinking since my early teens yet I held down responsible positions in my work. I understand everyone is different but your pattern of life must change and you keep well clear of events that may tempt you if you don’t have the willpower to say no.
The more I know the less I understand.
I very much doubt that he is an alcoholic, just likes to party too hard.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysBan him and tell him to sort himself out. No telling what extent of injuries might occur to him, his passengers, and nearby road users in the future.
I kind of agree with you Mike007 , to me seems a lot of pussy footing about him, he’s not the victim here , he’s not a teenager , he isn’t short of cash , he’s had a number of chances . Breath test him every time he sets foot on course from now on , every time he turns up for work . Maybe not ban him straight out but anything other than a rocking horse breath test , he in for jail if ges caught driving that will focus him , people need to stop nurse maiding him.Some jobs career over for what he did , no support all .
I find it kind of strange to spend millions year after year to buy new horses, have experienced people breaking them in and then to put up a jockey who regularly fails either a drug or a breath test.
That’s exactly the people this sport needs to promote itself. There are dozens of decent jockeys who could be suitable for a top job, but aren’t lucky enough tom get it.
He’s had a few chances over the past 5-5 years to get his life back on track, but he keeps on surprising… Not always in a positive way.He’s a very,very lucky boy. Firstly,and most importantly, nobody was killed. How many chances must he get before absolute tragedy happens. Secondly, very few folk in life would be given the chances he has had.
With any addiction, there is usually an underlying cause behind it. It’s that that needs to be sorted before he can hope to control his addictions.
I do like the guy, and he is second best jockey behind Ryan Moore, imho, but he is surely in the last chance saloon now.He should without delay hire a permanent driver to always take him to and from race meetings (and quite possible be on call for him socially too) as he clearly can’t be trusted not to maintain his sobriety without slipping (not a judgement just a statement of fact) and this is not his first offence either.
If he won’t do it himself then maybe he needs his primary employer to make it a part of his contract going forward or maybe they could just foot the bill themselves and insist on him having one (although it clearly is not their responsibility to do so).
The fact that he has been extremely fortunate not to actually kill anyone yet should be all the more reason why he shouldn’t continue to push his luck…….at some point the law of averages are going to turn against him and the next time he slips he could end up facing altogether much more serious consequences than ‘just’ a fine and driving ban.
On a racing front he is arguably just behind Ryan in terms of the best jockey out there and he really is a joy to listen to with the detailed level of post race debriefing he often gives to an interviewer and he comes over as a very amenable to sharing his opinion on a race.
It would be terrible to see him throw that all that away – whether he is an alcoholic or just over indulges too much in his down time (jockeys are notorious for having a lower tolerance to alcohol due to the much lower weight), he clearly has an issue and whilst that very well could be something he will struggle with for the rest of his life, there are contingencies he can put in place to mitigate finding himself in the position that he did with this incident.
Sounds like a reasonable solution to me.
Would similar conditions apply to any jockey riding with similar problems or is Oisin a special case?
My thoughts too, Yeats. He is protected by powerful connections, so the racing authorities will do whatever they can to accommodate him. Despite him having been in last chance saloon before.
He also seems to be above criticism, hence the risible Nicholls and Mulrennan trying to pretend he didn’t give a favourite a shocking ride at Newscastle. But the collective racing media worked themselves up into a frenzy about some of the winners he rode at Royal Ascot, most of which any jockey with a licence would have won on.
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