Murtagh earns his free lunch as Champers Elysees claims debut Group 1 in Matron

Johnny Murtagh might have taken time to get motoring as a trainer but he crowned a superlative season with a breakthrough success at Group 1 level when Champers Elysees swooped to run out a decisive winner of the Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes.

Colin Keane’s mount, beaten in the Birdcatcher Nursery last autumn off a rating of 84, continued her relentless progress by producing a blistering turn of foot to scoot past Fancy Blue as they both challenged wide in the straight.

Having begun the delayed campaign with a Curragh handicap triumph off 86, the Fitzwilliam Racing-owned filly is now unbeaten in four after seeing off the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Peaceful by a length and a quarter at odds of 9-2.

Watch Champers Elysees winning the Matron Stakes

A five-time champion jockey, and the leading Matron rider with three victories, Murtagh rode 103 winners at the highest level during his stellar career in the saddle. However, he retired early in 2014 before the Irish Champions Weekend initiative was inaugurated.

After attending the first couple of editions as a guest, he reflected last week on how he soon grew bored of being there “just for the free lunches”. He vowed to his wife Orla that he would strive to change that, and reaped the fruits of his labours here.

“I’m sick of everybody saying ‘Oh, you had such a great career as a jockey.’ That’s in the past. It’s the now I’m worried about and it's great to win this with her," Murtagh said of a filly who was sold twice to go abroad only for the deals to fall through.

"It’s been a brilliant year but to win a Group 1 on Champions Weekend, it means everything. That’s what we get up in the morning for – we want to be here on this stage. Races like the Sun Chariot and the Breeders' Cup Mile will have to be considered for her now.”

Champers Elysees (Colin Keane) scores by a length and a quarter from PeacefulCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Asked if he could have imagined that Champers Elysees, who won just once in five starts as a juvenile, would be the one to deliver such a landmark triumph when the season got under way, he replied: “No, I wouldn’t have believed it. But she was always a good filly and I did think she would make up into a stakes filly."

In defeat, Peaceful ran a gallant race from just off the pace, while Fancy Blue kept on to be third, having been tapped for toe at a crucial stage turning in. Murtagh’s Know It All finished fourth, having led briefly in the straight.

As a 36th winner of the truncated campaign for a trainer who had managed a previous best of just 32, Champers Elysees’ win offered pretty conclusive evidence that Murtagh’s second career is on a distinct upward curve.

“I’m a very good trainer – and I just need better horses,” he said with trademark conviction when asked to explain the stable’s surge in fortune. “And when I get them, these are the results. It's very hard to source horses in Ireland but, when you do, I don’t mind telling people we're able to do the business.”

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