I remember interviewing Oisin Murphy at Ascot on Champions Day, 2021. He was about to receive the champion jockey award for the third successive season after beating William Buick by two winners in an epic duel.
He’d been signing autographs for racegoers, undertaking various media duties and seemed drained rather than elated.
Will you go again next year? I asked.
“I don’t think so. I’m not sure. It just takes so much effort,” he said and with that headed back to the sanctuary of the weighing room.
And this week I watched his concession interview with Frankie Foster on Racing HQ’s Weighed In Podcast. It was filmed on October 1, shortly after he’d accepted that Billy Loughnane had gone beyond recall and wasn’t for catching.
“We’re sat and I’ve realised I can’t win. It’s an uncomfortable feeling really, certainly over the past week, the journey home yesterday after riding three second-place finishes and no winners from six rides… my strike-rate is taking another hit,” he says taking care over every word.
Your favourite horses, jockeys and trainers with My Stable
