Disciplinary hearing offers chance for fresh and better future for Oisin Murphy

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In Monday's email Peter Scargill, filling in while Chris Cook is away, looks ahead to Oisin Murphy's disciplinary hearing on Tuesday – and subscribers can get more great insight, tips and racing chat every Monday to Friday.

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A few discreet racing strands have been twiddling themselves together in my mind over the last week, primarily centred around Oisin Murphy’s disciplinary hearing at the BHA on Tuesday.

Murphy, champion jockey on the Flat for the last three years, is due in front of the independent disciplinary panel on charges relating to not complying with coronavirus travel restrictions in 2020, as well as on whether he was “acting in a manner which is prejudicial to the proper integrity, conduct and good reputation” of racing in Britain.

It is hardly the sort of charge sheet anyone in racing would want to be facing up to, particularly if they are a three-time champion jockey and regarded as one of the role models and ‘faces’ of the sport. He was also suspended for three months in late 2020 after testing positive for cocaine.

There has been a delay in the hearing starting after the BHA agreed to allow the rider to stand down for three months to receive “medical support”, ostensibly to help with problems Murphy was having with alcohol.

These issues came to a head when he hit a bloodstock agent in The Yard pub in Newmarket the night before he was due to ride in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile in October, a raceday he missed after failing a breathalyser test for alcohol. It later transpired it was his second failed test of the year.

Murphy said in a Racing Post interview in November that the altercation had “scared him” and that he had since been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. In the same interview he said he had not had a drink since that evening in Newmarket, a position he has maintained based on conversations I have had with people close to him in the last few weeks.

It was important for Murphy to face and own the difficulties he was having with alcohol to allow him to recover. Whether or not he chooses to remain teetotal after this experience is up to him, but it was clear that he needed a healthier relationship with alcohol.

As well as receiving “medical support” during the last three months, it is hoped that Murphy has taken the chance to assess where he stands with some of the people who have been around him.

Murphy, at his best, is a charming and charismatic young man with an enthusiasm for helping and a keenly attuned understanding of the media. As such, Murphy endears himself to a great number of people, although I would suspect far more people consider themselves ‘friends’ with the champion jockey than is the case.

It was something Jamie Spencer talked about on Luck On Sunday at the weekend when referring to his time as stable jockey for Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle, which ended after just 12 months.

Oisin Murphy at home in Upper Lambourn 27.10.21Pic: Edward WhitakerCredit: Edward Whitaker

“You get cast into the limelight, scrutinised everyday and you’re an easy target for the people who built you up to knock back down,” he said. “I learned a lot that year and after that, which stuck with me. Keep your circle of friends tight - you'd be lucky to count your 'real' friends on one hand. If you said you had ten, I'd be doubtful.”

Indeed, I understand that Murphy finds himself in the position he is in with the BHA over allegedly not complying with coronavirus travel restrictions after the regulator received information he had not self isolated after a trip to the Mediterranean from someone the rider may have considered to be one of these ‘friends’.

Not that this is an excuse for Murphy if he did not comply with the travel requirements at the time and if he then took steps to cover his tracks, as the BHA charges allege. You have to be responsible for your actions, whoever you are.

There is the possibility that Murphy could be given a sizable ban by the disciplinary panel, although it is worth considering that previous panels have shown compassion and understanding when dealing with individuals who have experienced problems with addiction in hearings I have sat in on over the last couple of years.

Whatever the outcome, it has to be hoped that a line can be drawn under Murphy’s indiscretions and that he allows us to focus on the good and the positive he undoubtedly brings to the sport.

As mentioned above, Murphy is engaging and willing to help promote racing in Britain and internationally. He has large social media followings, he engages directly with fans and racegoers on these platforms and in other settings, be it at the racecourse or elsewhere, and he has come across well in past interviews on the likes of the BBC when discussing racing.

When speaking to the Racing Post last week, the doyen of promoting sports, Barry Hearn, stated that racing needed “more personalities” to attract audiences, something we can all agree on with Frankie Dettori’s equine acrobatics not able to go on forever.

Tuesday is an important day for Murphy and what happens subsequently will hopefully be positive for him and the sport.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday