Fledgling trainer celebrates landmark night as 'very exciting' chaser forms part of breakthrough career double

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Ciaran Murphy reflected on a special night and predicted Wild Bill Hickok, the new flagbearer for his Mullingar yard, can now make his presence felt in top novice chases.

Wild Bill Hickok took the scalp of the classy Workahead at Roscommon on Monday evening before Soldante sealed the first double of the trainer's career when landing a 2m handicap chase.

But it was the performance of Wild Bill Hickok that would have excited Murphy most, setting up the four-year-old for a season tackling Graded races after a polished display in the 2m novice chase under 7lb claimer Eoghan Finegan. 

On paper it looked a hot race for the time of year, with the 144-rated Workahead, who ran against Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle in March, out to supplement his recent Wexford success. The 120-rated Scalpnagoon also lined up along with Talk In The Park, who brought a mark of 125 into the race.

But Wild Bill Hickok upstaged the 1-3 favourite Workahead emphatically, pulling four-and-three-quarter lengths clear after the last. The pair finished a further 15 lengths in front of the rest.

Murphy said: "It's very exciting for us to have a horse like him. He's some shop window for us.

"We knew he had a big engine. You don't win a Listed race in France without having a big engine, and he's got one. We had him as a young horse, so we knew him well, and he was bought with a view to go chasing early.

"We were hoping he would hit the ground running, but we never imagined it would happen as quickly as it has. It's brilliant."

On plans for the now 135-rated Wild Bill Hickok, Murphy said: "There's a Graded race at Galway coming up, but that's over 2m2f up a hill and could stretch him a bit, so we'll see. The main aim at the moment would be heading back to Roscommon for the Grade 3 novice chase at their final meeting of the year. We'll work back from that. 

"I do think he's definitely a winter horse and he'll have no problem coping with deeper ground. As he gets older, he'll get stronger. There's loads to look forward to for him through the winter."

Murphy, 49, spent the best part of two decades as assistant to Irish Grand National-winning trainer Dot Love before going out on his own. His operation continues to grow, with the aid of former Racing Post reporter, Mark Boylan, who is now based with the Irish Field. 

Murphy said: "We've been trying to up our game and improve our quality over the last few years, and I think we're doing that now. We've had a great start to the year and we've worked hard on getting a better calibre of horse. I'd say it's almost 50-50 between jumps and Flat horses here at the moment.

"Mark has been brilliant. He does a lot of the race planning and has great knowledge. It allows me to focus on the training side of things, and I've been really enjoying it. We'll keep our pedal to the metal and keep trying to improve in any way we can."

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