Mountain Brighton strike lifts weight of expectation as pedigree comes to fore

Olly Murphy does not lack self-belief. It courses through him in his every waking hour, yet until recently, it could not help him get to sleep. He was restless ahead of saddling his first runner as a fledgling trainer.

"Every night for two or three weeks I went to bed thinking, 'Christ, what am I going to do if I go ten runners without a winner? What are people going of think of me? He's worked for one the best trainers in Ireland and he can't train a winner. Was he asleep when he was there? He's had help from his mum and dad, he's been sent horses and yet he can't train a winner'."

This sudden outpouring requires a little explanation. Murphy spent the last four years as assistant trainer to Gordon Elliott in Ireland. In May he signed off and came home to the family farm in Warwickshire. His parents are Aiden Murphy, the renowned bloodstock agent with some prominent jumping clients, and Anabel King Murphy, who has been training for 35 years.