J P Murtagh

The highlight of his training career so far came at Ayr on 23 September 2023, when he landed a top-level race — one of the biggest prizes in Britain. Winning a Class 1 anywhere is a significant moment for any yard, and doing it at Ayr, a track with real history and prestige, gives the achievement extra weight. It is the kind of result that announces you belong at the top table.

On a day-to-day basis, the most important relationship in Murtagh's yard is with jockey Ben Coen. The pair have combined for 43 wins from 296 rides together — a win rate of around 15%, or roughly 3 in every 20. That is meaningfully better than the yard's overall average of 1 in 9, which suggests Coen gets the best out of these horses, or at least gets the call when the stable really fancies one. Partnerships like this are built on trust and communication, and 43 winners is a serious body of work.

Tipperary stands out as a course where Murtagh's horses run particularly well. Three winners from just 8 runners there is a conversion rate of 37% — closer to 1 in every 3 — which is exceptional. Small sample sizes always come with a caveat, but when a trainer keeps turning up at a track and winning, it is rarely an accident. It is worth watching whenever he sends a horse there.