Joseph Murray

I’m based in Donaghpatrick between Navan and Kells and I have the licence about eight or nine years now.

It was great to win with Rodney Bay at the Curragh on Tuesday. Leigh Roche gave him a brilliant ride. We both thought he had been chinned on the line so were delighted to hear his number called. He’s a horse that I gave a little break to during the summer when the ground dried out and brought him back for soft ground which he loves. He’s a solid dual-purpose horse and we’ll keep him going over hurdles for the winter.

We’ll be hoping for a similar outcome with Mickey The Steel at the final meeting of the year at the Curragh on Sunday. He’s a heavy ground sprinter who goes the same speed on heavy as he does on good. We were fortunate when he won at Bellewstown because the rest of the card was called off after he won and he wants it as heavy as possible. Nearly unraceable ground suits him well and a lot of sprinters won’t go as well as he does in those conditions.

Mickey The Steel is probably the best horse we’ve had along with Captain Cullen who won five races for Gerry Keane and then another four for us. I’m married to Lisa Sheridan and her father Patrick owned Captain Cullen. I’m from Trim and I met Lisa there. She was always into hunting and our yard is at her father’s place and we’ve gradually developed and improved the facilities there over the years. We have a walker, a lunging ring, a turn-out paddock and a gallop there for horses to canter. We’ve bought a three-bay set of stalls as well to train the younger horses through stalls. We have eleven boxes and have about eight or nine returned in training this year, three of which have won. Luckily the yard and the land is on a bit of a hill and is well drained so we’ve managed fairly well with the recent bad weather.

Lisa’s father is a great supporter of ours and we can make a living training that number of horses because we don’t have the big overheads of a lot of trainers, most notably rent or staff. I do a lot of the riding out myself and Lisa goes racing a lot. We have three young children, Luke, Grace and Eoin, so we have our hands full but it’s a great way of life. I love being able to be outside and working with horses. I love the challenge of bringing horses along and getting the best out of them.

My family weren’t involved with horses but I was small and light so when I was sixteen I decided to give racing a go. I started off with the late Barry Kelly and then I worked with Juddmonte Farms in Kilcock, breaking in yearlings. I also worked for Gerry Keane and Joanna Morgan and I’ve travelled overseas working with horses as well. I’ve been in Germany, Lindsay Park Racing Stable and Stud in Australia which is where the Hayes family are based, and I spent time with trainer Leo O’Brien in New York too. You learn from all these people and pick up things along the way.

When we want to do a bit of faster work we bring the horses to the Magniers’ gallop in Skryne which is half an hour away or up to Dundalk which is 50 minutes from us. Robbie Colgan is not far away from us and we’ll often get Robbie to ride a bit of work on one of ours. He’s a big help to us.

Furnace Creek is a horse owned by Danny Coogan from Trim who’s a good owner of ours and he won at Limerick during the summer and was placed at the Curragh and Cork. He might be one for Dundalk in the coming months and we hope he can win again.

Master Garvey hasn’t won for us yet but he’s gone close plenty of times and hopefully he’ll get his turn. He was beaten a short head at Roscommon in June and then ran a great race for Cian MacRedmond at Limerick from a bad draw when beaten a head. We were drawn out in 17 and the winner was in stall one. I think he’d have won from a better draw. Flat racing in Ireland is so competitive and if the draw or the ground is even marginally against you, it can make the difference between winning and losing.

We’re maxed out in terms of horses at the moment but we’re happy to keep tipping away and getting the best out of what we have. We can give them plenty of individual attention and it makes it more enjoyable for us without the stress and the expense of having a bigger yard.

Joseph Murray was in conversation with Mark Nunan

About Mark Nunan

Mark has followed racing since he was a teenager and worked for many years as a broadcaster with the Irish version of Racecall. He joined the Press Association in 2019 and is also a contributor to the Racing Post. A native of Kildare, he now lives in Sligo.

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