Olly Murphy back in flying form and sets Aintree target for Thomas Darby

From Ascot to Wolverhampton, Olly Murphy is sending out winners left, right and centre, with the trainer enjoying a purple patch after a quiet spell before Christmas.

Thomas Darby was another example of Murphy's resurgence on Saturday, winning the Grade 3 Matchbook Holloway's Handicap Hurdle at Ascot after two disappointing efforts over fences.

The seven-year-old's nascent chase career began when Murphy's runners were not in sparkling form, and the trainer said on Sunday: "All of mine ran very averagely through November and the start of December – he was no exception.

"I don't think it's that he hates fences, he just wasn't right when he ran at Kempton and that was that."

Murphy's upturn in fortunes

November
Winners 7
Runners 46
Strike-rate 15 per cent

December
Winners 3
Runners 34
Strike-rate nine per cent

January
Winners 12
Runners 26
Strike-rate 46 per cent

Runner-up in last season's Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Thomas Darby will stay hurdling for the rest of the season, though a tilt at the Unibet Champion Hurdle, for which he is a best-priced 33-1, looks unlikely.

"I thought it was a very good performance off top weight and a mark of 151 on his first run in a handicap," Murphy added. "He didn't surprise me as I've expressed I thought he was very smart, but I was surprised with how he put it all together.

"My immediate gut feeling is I'm going to miss Cheltenham. His main aim will be the two and a half mile Grade 1 at Aintree, and we may well look at going to Fontwell for the National Spirit, which is a very valuable race.

"I'll keep him in the Champion Hurdle in case one or two silly things happen, but I'm not sure I'll be going to Cheltenham to run him in a handicap off topweight."

Prompting kept the winning run going for Murphy at Wolverhampton on Sunday and with six victories from his last 13 runners and 12 this month already, the trainer has made a flying start to 2020.

He said: "I've never really had to endure a bad spell since I started training, but I had a quiet three or four weeks and thought it was the end of the world.

"They've come back round and they're running especially well at the moment for one reason or another and long may it continue. I've a lot of horses still to run, especially young horses, before the end of the season and hopefully things will keep going the way they're going."

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