Delighted winning jockey Oisin Murphy says 2,000 Guineas hero Kameko can keep on improving

The colt is the new ante-post favourite for next month’s Investec Epsom Derby after getting up on the line to deny Frankie Dettori on Wichita and the previously unbeaten Pinatubo in the fastest Guineas ever.

Even the absence of a crowd did not deter the 24-year-old from hollowing with joy, and punching the air with delight, as he took his burgeoning career to new heights.

It was a popular win – Murphy won over a new generation of followers with his ambassadorial work for racing during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Yet it meant the world to the horseman because he was rewarding two of the people who have been so integral to his rise through the racing ranks.

That is because Kameko, named after a Japanese snail, is trained by Andrew Balding, the jockey’s mentor when he first moved to Britain, and owned by the rider’s principle owner Sheikh Fahad.

And like Murphy and Fahad’s 2018 champion Roaring Lion, who tragically died of colic last year, Kameko is sired by the great Kitten’s Joy.

With many of his progeny being late developers, the month-long delay to the Guineas certainly helped a horse who proved his versatility when landing last November’s Group One Vertem Futurity Trophy on the Newcastle all-weather.

“It is an incredible feeling and I can’t put it into words. For Andrew Balding, for Sheikh Fahad – these are the people I started with,” explained Murphy.

“He is a son of Kitten’s Joy, who is the same sire of Roaring Lion who was special to me.

“When we are in a race, having no crowd there doesn’t affect us, it is just when we pull up. The only two people shouting at that point you could hear was Frankie Dettori (rider of runner-up Wichita) and me. He was shouting at me and I don’t know who I was shouting at!

“It was massive and a day I won’t forget.

“When I look back at this in a few years’ time I won’t remember there was no crowd it will just be Kameko winning the 2,000 Guineas for Qatar Racing and Andrew Balding.

“It is the biggest winner of my career and for all the right reasons.”

Few relationships between jockey and owner are more solid than the one Murphy enjoys with Qatar Racing supremo Sheikh Fahad, something in his eyes that makes the achievement more special.

He said: “I had my first ride for Sheikh Fahad in 2012 so it has been nearly eight years together in some form or other. He leaves it up to me and so does Andrew. I feel very privileged.

“Sheikh Fahad has only ridden in charity races, but he understands that racing doesn’t always go right.

“He truly understands the game. He lives and breathes horse racing.”

Though Murphy – who picked up a two-day whip ban – would not go as far as saying an outing in the Derby on July 4 would be next up for Kameko, the 24-year-old believes the colt would handle Epsom’s undulations.

He said: “I honestly can’t answer if he would go to the Derby for a week or so. Although he marched in as proud as he could, we don’t know how much this has taken out of him and it is another half a mile than he has raced today.

“Horses that handle Epsom have to do it on the bridle and he wouldn’t come off the bit until round Tattenham Corner, when he is either not going to stay or stay, so he would have no problem with the track. I do think the horse will just improve and improve.”

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