Adrian Murray goes into this weekend’s action perched in a heady fifth place in the trainers’ championship and with the prospect of one of Irish racing’s most unlikely success stories continuing to evolve.
Having not so long ago been saddling an occasional winner over jumps, Murray has broken into Europe’s Group One elite, mostly through the backing of Kia Joorabchian’s AMO Racing team.
Now, Murray is set to hold a joint licence with Brazilian horseman and former jockey Robson Aguiar, a crucial element in the spectacular success of his Co Westmeath stable in recent seasons.
Aguiar has started an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board trainers’ course which will enable him to officially step up from his current role as Murray’s assistant.
RM Block
“I am doing the trainers’ course at the moment and, if that goes well, the plan will be to train on a joint licence later this year,” Aguiar told Thoroughbred Daily News.
On Friday, Murray said such a situation will reflect the reality of what has been a remarkable transformation.
Following on from Valiant Force’s memorable 150-1 shock in Royal Ascot’s Norfolk Stakes in 2023, the team struck at Group One level shortly afterwards with Bucenero Fuerte in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.
Murray was once again in the Phoenix Stakes number one spot earlier this month through Power Blue.
It helped catapult him up the trainers’ table, one of 20 winners overall this season in Ireland, contributing to a prize money tally of €830,550. Only Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, Ger Lyons and Johnny Murtagh are ahead of him. Jessica Harrington is among some stellar names playing catch up.
“It’s been unbelievable, a serious dream, a serious ride,” Murray commented before pointing to Aguiar’s crucial role in the enterprise.
“Robson used to work for me here and he was always aiming to be up at the top end. He wouldn’t have been satisfied otherwise. He had big ambitions and has great confidence in himself. He’s a great believer in himself,” he added.
No one knows better the speed with which Aguiar has established himself as one of the best spotters of young talent in the sport. Power Blue was bought for £44,000 (€50,000) as a yearling. Top sprinter Arizona Blaze cost £82,000 (€94.000).
“He buys all the horses, or most of them, and he’s a brilliant judge. A lot of the horses would have been inexpensive,” Murray said. “For sure he plays a big part of what we do. He’s very hands on at the training and the main man when it comes to buying these horses.”
AMO’s trust in the operation got underlined during the week when last year’s Irish Oaks heroine, You Got To Me, bought for a whopping Gns 4.8 million during the winter, was transferred to Murray from Ralph Beckett. She holds an entry in October’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The Murray team have big-race ambitions beyond that with Power Blue and Arizona Blaze having the Breeders’ Cup as their long-term target. Bucanero Fuere, back in racing action after a failed stud career, could line up in the Flying Five at the Curragh over Irish Champions Festival.
Murray has four runners this weekend, including Ipanema Queen in the Group Three Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday. The course and distance winner carries the colours of heavyweight US operation Stonestreet Farm and could also wind up at Del Mar in November.
“A nice filly going forward. We’re looking at the Breeders’ Cup at the back of the year for her. She’s going well,” Murray summed up.
The precarious nature of the sales ring is underlined in the Round Tower through the likely favourite Mission Central. Bred by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary he fetched Gns 625,000 as a yearling when bought by Coolmore. But his Dundalk debut in April was so underwhelming he was gelded.
The impact of that was obvious when Mission Central returned to action at the Curragh earlier this month and dotted up by eight lengths. Not many operations could act so decisively with such a well-bred expensive purchase. But his last start suggests Mission Central is a formidable sprinter in the making.
Ryan Moore is also likely to fancy his chances in the previous Newtownanner Stud Stakes at a mile where he has opted for Sugar Island rather than the Royal Ascot placed Moments Of Joy.
Moore memorably won last year’s Paddy Power Supporting Cancer Trials Irish Cambridgeshire aboard the 22-1 shot Wigmore Street. No such SP will be available when he teams up with William Haggas’s Godwinson, winner of the English Lincoln in March and sure to appreciate ease in the going. So too will Genuine Article, who scored impressively at Galway last time.
Saturday’s third Group Three is the Snow Fairy Stakes where one time Classic hopeful Red Letter looks more likely than some of her opposition to act on rain-softened ground.
