Oisin Murphy

Winning the Coral Eclipse on Roaring Lion last Saturday was a fantastic day and one I am very grateful for. I’ve always had full faith in the horse and I was just delighted to finally get a first Group 1 winner for Sheikh Fahad, so it was great.

It was a race that changed a lot in the build up with Saxon Warrior running just a week after the Irish Derby and then Masar being a non-runner and I had to change my plans a bit but it made the race a bit more open in my view, when Masar came out, because backing up after the Irish Derby was always going to be a tough task for Saxon Warrior.

I'm sure It was a great race to watch and it was very competitive. I think Wayne Lordan rode a very clever race on Happily, the Ballydoyle team knew Saxon Warrior was probably Roaring Lion’s main opposition and they kept me off him and I wasn’t able to follow him, but I’m used to riding in these sort of races now and you have to be on your ‘A game’.

Then we had the little extra drama of the stewards enquiry. I think everyone watching and the reaction after the race was that nobody expected me to lose the race, but at the same time Donnacha had a job to do to try and get the race if he could, and he’s a very good speaker, and it made it interesting, but to be honest I didn’t feel I could possibly lose the race so I wasn’t nervous. I don’t think anyone was in any doubt on the day that the best horse won.

I would be in favour of the cameras being in the enquiry as I think anything that we can do as a sport to appeal to the public audience can only be a good thing, as long as everyone is respectful in there. It makes for interesting viewing for people at home and that should be promoted.

Aidan O’Brien is an unbelievable trainer and was very good to me when I spent time there. I rode out for him before moving to England and also for the start of the last two years and I ride for Joseph a bit when he sends horses over. Aidan will always wish you the best of luck and congratulate you.

I didn’t mind finally getting one over on Aidan in a big race though, because it was Rhododendron that nailed Lightening Spear in the Lockinge!

It was mentioned a lot that I had yet to ride a Group 1 winner in Ireland or England and I thought I was on the best horse in the race on Saturday so I just wanted to get the job done and it still hasn’t really sunk in but hopefully Roaring Lion can be a flagbearer for us for the rest of the year and maybe next year as well.

I’ve got a lot of good people behind me including Sheikh Fahad who is very passionate about the sport. Andrew Balding had a quiet start to the year but the horses are flying now, Saeed bin Suroor always uses me, Archie Watson has been very good to me and I’ve got a link up with Phoenix Thoroughbreds as well so I’ve got plenty of good people behind me and I just try and keep everybody happy but it isn’t always easy! On Saturday’s, with so much racing in England, wherever you go you’ll probably miss a winner somewhere else but you can’t let that get to you, you just need to try keep level-headed about the whole thing.

Everyone wants to ride a Royal Ascot winner and once I got that done on the second day you can kind of enjoy the rest of the week a little bit more. Numbers wise this season I’m a bit further behind than I want to be but I’ll just keep kicking and hopefully July will be a good month and I can keep pressing forward.

I love home but I’m very settled over here now and I just know in my heart and soul if I went to Ireland I would find it very tough, unless I had a big job and there aren’t that many big jobs in Ireland and I certainly don’t see any of them coming up in the near future but for sure, a big job would lure me home.

There’s some very good riders in Ireland and it’s just so competitive over there. Ronan Whelan would be just one example. Ronan is second jockey to Jim Bolger, and he will be first jockey some day, and he is a top class rider but while he is second jockey his opportunities are more limited and when he comes over here he’ll ride for Mick Channon and get loads of rides and winners so I’m well aware of how hard it is in Ireland.

This time of year doesn’t allow for much down time but this Sunday I’m going to Wimbledon for the first time and I’m really looking forward to that and any Sunday I can I try to get to mass to switch off.

I’ll miss the World Cup Final if England get there and best of luck to them but I’d be surprised if they won the World Cup. It would be good if they got to the final though as it would keep a lot of people here in a good mood. Now that Sky Sports are showing some GAA it’s good to be able to catch up with the hurling and being from Kerry the football is about to get very interesting.

My parents come over from time to time and might spend three or four days here at a time and I suppose last Saturday made me very happy for them and my family. They know how seriously I take my job and I was just very pleased for them. Sometimes if they come over and I don’t have a winner in that time I might not be the nicest person to be around and my driver, Sue, would tell me to be nicer to my mother, and unfortunately you always take your moods out on the people closest to you so I’m just pleased for them on days like last Saturday.

I’ve had a Royal Ascot winner this season, I’ve had a Group 1 in England for Sheikh Fahad and things are going well but I probably would like the numbers to be a bit higher. To be honest, I wanted to be champion jockey this year, but my percentages in May and June just weren’t good enough and the bottom line is that Silvestre De Sousa is away and gone and Danny Tudhope is on his coattail and the reality is nobody else stands a chance this year but going forward I would love to be champion jockey some year.

For now we’ll just continue to keep doing the best we can and hopefully more big winners will come before the season is out.