Oisin Murphy on fire: title-chasing champ rides eight winners in 22 hours

Oisin Murphy rode an incredible eighth winner in less than 24 hours when Rhyme Scheme landed the 7f selling handicap at Brighton on Thursday.

The champion jockey turned up the heat in the battle to retain his title with a Kempton five-timer on Wednesday night and continued his red-hot form with a treble at Brighton.

The run started when Murphy took the mile handicap, the 5.25, at Kempton's Wednesday evening meeting, and he went on to land another four winners.

He began Thursday's winning spree by extending his advantage to 14 over nearest pursuer William Buick with a confident ride on Big Boy Bobby, smuggling the 5-6 favourite through a gap between runners and then into the lead in the 1m2f handicap.

Buick hit back with a Yarmouth winner but Murphy – appearing at Brighton for the first time this season – responded with a last-gasp success on Ravens Ark in the Brighton Challenge Cup.

Victory on Rhyme Scheme, his final mount of the day, made it eight winners from his last 13 rides.

Murphy reflected: "I haven't been to Brighton much in the last few years. It was a kind place to me today, that's for sure.

Oisin Murphy: is now huge favourite to retain his champion jockey crownCredit: Edward Whitaker

"My agent is doing his best. With so many meetings, it's hard to know which one to go to. Andrew [Balding] didn't really need me at Sandown, so I was able to get on some chance horses down here and luckily a few of them won.

"Wednesdays are long days and me and Rob [Hornby] were riding out in the morning and then flat out at Kempton. It's good when they're winning. I had some good rides and I'm riding for lots of stables who are in good form, which helps a lot. Hopefully we can keep kicking for the next couple of months."

Betfair Sportsbook cut Murphy from 8-11 to 3-10 after Kempton and further slashed him to 1-8 to capture a third consecutive jockeys' title after the Brighton treble. He remains 15 clear of Buick and 16 ahead of Tom Marquand, who rode a double at Yarmouth, but Murphy insists the battle is far from finished.

"If I was 40 clear it wouldn't be enough," he said. "The lads are going to ride a lot of winners and I really need to keep the foot down. August is a big month with York coming up and then in September you've got Doncaster, Haydock and all that.

Oisin Murphy's electric eight

Kempton, Wednesday
5.25pm: Thunderclap 2-1
6.00: Mutafawwig 15-8
6.30: Mo'assess 1-3
8.30: Vino Victrix 5-4
9.00: Motorious 13-8

Brighton, Thursday
2.00: Big Boy Bobby 5-6
2.30: Ravens Ark 9-5
3.30: Rhyme Scheme 6-5

"There's a lot of exciting stuff ahead of us and I'm just trying to keep rolling. It's great when they're all winning but there will be tougher days as well."

Murphy has six rides at Haydock on Friday as he bids to continue his exceptional run. Over the weekend he is riding at Newmarket and Windsor.

Landmark day

Mollie Phillips rode out her 7lb claim thanks to a 33-1 double instigated by He's Our Star for Tony Carroll in the mile handicap and completed by Porterinthejungle for Robyn Brisland in the 7f Silk Series Handicap.

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