Murtagh quits riding to focus just on training

Crowned Irish champion jockey on five occasions, the 43-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest riders of the modern era and partnered numerous big-race winners in all corners of the globe.

His big race successes in Yorkshire included two renewals of York’s Juddmonte International, on Duke of Marmalade in 2008 and Rip Van Winkle two years later. Murtagh also prospered at Doncaster where he won the Racing Post Trophy on Dilshaan in 2000 and the brilliant St Nicholas Abbey in 2009.

He enjoyed a string of successes last year, riding and training Royal Diamond to win the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day at Ascot.

“The training side of things is getting bigger and I wasn’t happy giving the riding 50 per cent and the training 50 per cent,” he said. “It’s the right time to call it a day.

“We have 45 horses in training at the moment, including 20 two-year-olds. I have the same expectations as when I was riding – the standards are still the same.”