Patrick Murphy was walking on air for a few days after Body Bob had won a midweek BM72 on the Kensington track last October. The fact that it was a Wednesday meeting took nothing away from the occasion, and when it’s all boiled down the Kensington track is situated on the hallowed turf of Royal Randwick anyway. As far as Pat was concerned this was his first Randwick training win and that was that.
Fast forward to July 27th, and this time the trainer made it a fair dinkum Randwick victory when Victory Roll posted a gutsy Saturday win on the famous course proper. When the gelding won the second race of the day, runners weren’t getting much wider than the middle of the track in the run home. A few races later the outside fence was proving to be a hindrance. Rachel King, who’d ridden Body Bob in his two city wins late last year was having her first ride on Victory Roll. She’d obviously done her homework. Early on she had the horse one out and one back in the 1800m TAB Highway, but opted for an early move at the 800m mark which put her outside the leader Kaihoko.
“You can see why Rachel has ridden five Gr 1 winners,” said Pat. “I told her one out and one back would be ideal, but I stressed the fact that the horse is very fit and can stay a bit. Mind you I was a little concerned when she took off a long way from home, and actually rode him into the turn. I was even more worried when County Kilkenny looked dangerous inside the 200m, but our bloke just kept finding, and right on the line was going as well as the second horse. You can bet Rachel had looked at replays of Victory Roll’s recent starts and had worked out his racing style. She’s a thorough professional.”
The girls fight it out! Victory Roll (Rachel King) holds out County Kilkenny (Molly Bourke) to win the TAB Highway - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
New Zealand bred Victory Roll started his Aussie racing career in Queensland with David Vandyke who was obviously very taken with his pedigree. The gelding just happens to be a half brother to Gypsy Goddess with whom Vandyke won the Gr 3 Grand Prix, and the Gr 1 Queensland Oaks complimented by placings in the Vinery Stud Stakes and the ATC Australian Oaks. Victory Roll’s four Queensland runs proved that he’s no Gypsy Goddess, but good enough to suggest that he was worth another try in moderate company.
The upshot was that major part owner Jim Bergin listed him on the Inglis Digital Sale and informed Patrick that he was worth a look. “I got him for $2250 and quickly put a syndicate together,” said the trainer. “The fact that Jim retained a share was encouraging and I was able to get some family members involved. My sister Jill came on board as did my mother Bernadette and brother-in-law Sam Fitzgerald who’s CEO of the Dubbo Turf Club. The horse won races at Wagga and Goulburn before Saturday’s Highway and has banked around $90,000 for his new owners. Jim Bergin’s judgement has proven spot on.”
A walk in the park for Victory Roll (Mitchell Bell) at Goulburn 21/06/2024 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Not surprisingly Patrick has already been informed by older racing friends that a horse of the same name made a name for himself on Sydney tracks in the mid 1960’s. The original Victory Roll was trained by Tommy Smith and won multiple city races ridden predominantly by the legendary George Moore. Former ace jockey Gordon Spinks fondly remembers Victory Roll as the horse to give him a very prestigious double during the 1966 Golden Slipper carnival. “I was still an apprentice but Tommy Smith was giving me plenty of opportunities,” recalled Spinks in a recent podcast. “I won the Rosehill Guineas for him on Dark Briar and the Rosehill Cup on Victory Roll on the same programme. The feature double helped my career no end.”
Patrick Murphy was destined for a life in racing from childhood days when his family lived a stone’s throw from Canterbury racecourse. Patrick’s dad Lindsay Murphy began his career in racing with the Sydney Turf Club in 1977. Over the next forty two years he graduated from junior office boy through a series of roles to become General Manager Of Racecourses for the Australian Turf Club - a role that saw him overseeing the maintenance of all metropolitan tracks right up to his retirement in 2019. He says the signs were evident early days that Patrick’s future would be in racing.
“We lived near the Canterbury track and actually kept a couple of ponies in the backyard,” said Lindsay “He’d ride up the street or in the racecourse car park. I could see he wanted to be a Shane Dye or Mick Dittman. He’d spend hours before and after school helping out in the stables of trainers like “Skeeter” Hazelton, Gary Nickson and others. He was always going to get heavy but decided to give it a go nevertheless. As it turned out he lasted longer than we predicted and did pretty well.”
Patrick's greatest supporter is his father Lindsay who was trackside at Randwick on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Apart from a few months on loan out to Coffs Harbour trainer Brett Bellamy, Patrick spent his entire apprenticeship with Guy Walter. He forged a special friendship with the astute Warwick Farm trainer, and was totally devastated when Guy passed away suddenly in 2014. “He gave me more opportunities than I could ever have hoped for,” said Patrick. “My biggest thrill was to win a two year old race at Canterbury on Appearance, a filly I liked very much. She was far too good for the opposition on the day and it was no surprise when she later won four Gr 1 races. I like to think I had a little bit to do with her early education.”
A magic moment for jockey Patrick Murphy - a win on Appearance for Guy Walter at Canterbury 15/06/2011 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
By 2015 Pat was struggling to make a riding weight of 59 kgs. He had his final race ride in June of that year finishing out of a place on Bonee Tess for Jarrod Austin at Cessnock, while his last winner was Sungine at Albury for Graeme Spackman three months earlier. In eleven years of race riding Pat’s win tally was just under 300 despite being impeded by weight difficulties for much of the time.
The former jockey looks back with fondness on a fairly comprehensive association with the racing media. He enjoyed every moment of his involvement with the Seven Network supervising the operation of “Jockey Cam” during major race telecasts. “My job was to gain clearance from race clubs, while on race days I actually spent time in the jockey’s room fixing the equipment to the cap being worn by the riders in question,” said Pat. “It was a thrill to fit Hugh Bowman up a few times before he went out to ride Winx. That all led me to an association with Sky Racing which lasted until my training career started just over three years ago. I worked at race meetings rounding up interviews or whatever they wanted me to do on race days.”
During this period Patrick continued to ride a substantial amount of trackwork which led him to a fairly lengthy stint at Paul Fudge’s magnificent Waratah Park spelling and training operation on the Southern Highlands. Then came an offer to join the team at the late Alan Cardy’s “Lynton” training property, much closer to his Goulburn home base. He was still uncertain of his future direction but all the ducks suddenly lined up when eight boxes became available at the Goulburn training precinct. Patrick made a quiet beginning with just a handful of horses, and continued to honour his Sky race day commitments for a short time. The thrill of his initial win erased any doubts he may have had about a training future.
The big day came on his hometrack in November of 2021 when Richard Bensley rode the perfect race to get the Murphy trained Affiliate home in a BM50. Pat would have been satisfied had he not trained another winner for a month but was stunned later in the day when Amy McLucas won on Bet Red to give him a totally unexpected double. He’s been chipping away diligently with a small team ever since, and another 31 winners have appeared on his CV.
Pat was elated to win his first race as a trainer with Affiliate (Richard Bensley) at Goulburn. He made it a double with Bet Red later in the day - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Pat took another important step late last year when he and long time partner Emma Longmire tied the knot. Emma who’d previously trained horses in partnership with her twin sister Lucy, currently has her own stables on course at Goulburn and is pre training for Patrick, Matt Dale and others. She also has a handful of racehorses in work under her own banner, while her better half is working up to 14 in a nearby barn. When not engaged in the demanding task of looking after racehorses, the Murphys are loving their roles as the proud parents of two year old Peggy - the delightfully old fashioned name she inherited from her late paternal grandmother. Life’s pretty good for thirty nine year old Patrick Murphy. A few more pleasant surprises like Saturday’s TAB Highway win, and it will get a whole lot better.
Patrick with his master the late Guy Walter after his Canterbury win on Appearance in 2011 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Patrick has won three city races in his short career and Rachel King has ridden all three - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)