On which horse did Oisin Murphy win the Ayr Gold Cup?

Cork-born Oisin Murphy, 29, has risen to the pinnacle of his sport, winning the British Flat Jockeys’ Championship three years running, in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Indeed, at the time of writing, he leads the 2024 championship with 141 winners, 46 ahead of his nearest rival, Rossa Ryan, so a fourth jockeys’ title appears a formality. However, he has had a chequered career, including a chastening 14-month ban, imposed by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), after a string of disciplinary offences.

In 2012, at the age of 17, Murphy joined the famed apprentice jockeys’ academy at Park House Stables in Kingsclere, near Newbury, Berkshire, under the patronage of Andrew Balding. He made an almost immediate impact, riding 41 winners in his inaugural season, 2013, and another 76 in 2014, on his way to becoming Champion Apprentice.

However, it was on September 21, 2013, when, as a 5lb claimer, he won the Ayr Gold Cup on Highland Colori, trained by Balding, that Murphy attracted the attention of the wider racing public. Balding had stated beforehand that the teenage jockey would not be riding in races worth less than £6,000, in an effort to preserve his claim. His decision appeared justified because on that same afternoon, Murphy, who was making his first visit to Scotland, went on to ride three more winners for a high-profile 9,260/1 four-timer. On a memorable day north of the border, he also won on Leviate, trained by John Quinn, Silver Rime, trained by Linda Perrat, and Cockney Sparrow, alos trained by Quinn.