CHAMPION jockey Oisin Murphy’s rollercoaster career hit a new low on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old revealed a battle with the demon bottle before he was handed a 14-month ban from racing and a £31,111 fine.
Oisin Murphy faced questions after his third jockeys’ championship
He described a life more in line with a rockstar than an elite athlete as he admitted to five COVID and alcohol-related breaches.
Murphy tested over the riding-limit twice before racing at Chester and Newmarket last year and lied to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) about a holiday to red-listed Mykonos in 2020, saying he’d been to Lake Como to avoid two weeks of isolation.
He rode 11 winners in that time and was only caught out when an Instagram snap was spotted by the authorities. He’d later win the title by a margin of just eight from Will Buick.
The Irishman said the anxiety caused by these lies and the pressures of his battle with Buick got the better of him.
In a slick suit and tie, Murphy told the hearing of his journey and his recent pledge to quit the drink after attending Alcoholics Anonymous.
Murphy said: “Some jockeys deal with things by going home and playing Playstation, I go home, watch all the replays, scrutinise everything and drink a bottle of wine or vodka.
“I get up the next morning and ride out and no one really knew anything about it.”
Murphy moved to England at 16 and shot to fame at just 19 when he became champion apprentice in 2014. Two years later he was handed the job of retained rider to powerhouse owners Qatar Racing.
In 2019 he won his first jockeys championship and has retained his title for the past two years.
But this season’s October trophy presentation at Ascot was tarnished further by an incident in a Newmarket pub the week before. He allegedly glassed a bloodstock agent after an evening drinking white wine and vodka lemonades.
Murphy said he first noticed he had an issue in 2018 when his boss Andrew Balding smelt alcohol on his breath one morning riding in Hong Kong.
The jockey added he was constantly being taken to dinners with trainers, owners and sponsors where there was always booze involved. Then in 2020 he tested positive for cocaine in France but had his ban reduced to three months after he said he was contaminated after a “sexual encounter.”
Murphy won the 2000 Guineas on Kameko in 2020
Friends and his team stuck by him but the pressures mounted last season with the BHA catching him out over his Mykonos holiday.
An emotional Murphy said: “I knew I was out of control, I never drank on the way to the races, but in the evening, I was capable of drinking one glass of wine, or ten, and not knowing the next morning what I had done.
“I handed in my licence after the Breeders’ Cup in November because of the embarrassment of going racing every day, knowing the other riders knew I shouldn’t be.
“I’ll never forget picking up the championship trophy in October, there was no element of joy.”
He added: “My uncle was very successful and he made me aware that a relationship with alcohol could be a slippery slope and to stay out of the pub. Previously I had been at Aidan O’Brien’s and he told me on a daily basis that alcohol had been the downfall of many of his riders.
“Then in 2018 I was suddenly riding some of the best horses in the world. I remember going to Hong Kong and I experienced the nightlife there, I was going to nightclubs.
“I was going to ride trackwork in the mornings, and I remember the first warning I got about my drinking being out of control was when Andrew Balding gave me a bollocking because my breath stunk of alcohol when I showed up to ride. I copped on to myself then.
“Then in 2019, I really wanted this championship. At the same time my social life had started to grow and I was getting to know people in London.
“Two days before Royal Ascot, I wasn’t riding well, I stayed out in London to 2am and had eight or nine [rides] at Salisbury the next day. I couldn’t eat anything that night but had loads of champagne.
“I got up that morning and drove to Salisbury, the breathalyser was there and I blew over and that was the first time I really scared myself.”
When banned for his cocaine test, Murphy said he was so bored he turned to drinking each afternoon. His mum become worried and came over from Ireland to monitor him.
He said: “France Galop gave me three months, I tried to get away but it was COVID so I had nothing to do, I was bored.
“My mum was worried about me so came over. I would ride out in the mornings but have nothing to do in the afternoon so I would open a bottle of wine and almost always finish it.”
Murphy is employed by powerhouse owners Qatar Racing
Murphy hit the headlines before he lifted his third jockeys’ championship in October for his role in a Newmarket pub fight.
He explained the events leading up to that night in October. He said: “It got to October, all of a sudden these Newmarket meetings were coming around and William Buick and Tom Marquand’s association with Charlie Appleby and William Haggas, meant they were going to close in.
“I was running out of ammunition and I felt like the championship was getting away from me. I was at the sales and meeting all the trainers, I said to them ‘I can’t go racing today, none of them have got any chance.’
“I knew that would be throwing in the towel and I had coped with it the two years before. In 2019 I had only failed one breathalyser and it wasn’t that serious, it was swept under the carpet.
“In 2020, I dealt with a failed drugs test and managed to hide that from everyone. Then the Mykonos thing hadn’t really been prevalent as it was all one big secret.
“But in 2021, I’ve got a test failure, Mykonos and I’d manage to carry all that with me for nothing as the championship was gone.
“Coming back from Chelmsford, it was only a short journey but I’d started pouring Vodka-Lemonades before a friend’s dinner party. A lot of racing people were there. I managed to switch my mind off from racing, I don’t know how much wine I drank, but it was enough.
“I remember agreeing to go to the Yard [pub] but I don’t remember being there at all.
“When I woke up I realised I had light weights and I got in the bath and sweated for an hour. My friends started messaging me saying I’d done this and done that, some of it true, some of it untrue. All of a sudden the panic set in.
“I knew I was out of control, I never drank on the way to the races, but in the evening, I was capable of drinking one glass of wine, or ten and not knowing the next morning what I had done.
“It took until then for me to finally give in, I knew my issues of coping with pressure and self-caused had led to me developing a dependence on alcohol.
“I should have realised a lot earlier, the writing was on the wall and the people were there to help me. David Redvers had tried to help me, but i convinced myself I didn’t have a problem because I didn’t get up in the morning and have a drink.”
The BHA have vowed to back Murphy as he faces his long ban and rehab.
They said in a statement: “While it is important that this penalty is served and Mr Murphy’s offences are seen to be acted upon, we would also call on everyone in the sport to respect the admissions that he has made about his physical and mental wellbeing and his need for rehabilitation. The BHA will offer any support that Mr Murphy requests in this ongoing process.”
