Swing Bill finds vote swung in its favour by Murphy

Murphy, one of the most naturally-gifted horsemen of his generation, cannot be in two places at once as Doncaster and Newbury stage rival Grand National trials today.

His choice was an invidious one: did he travel to South Yorkshire and ride Merigo, the horse that he rode to victory in last April’s Scottish National for his father-in-law Raymond Green?

Or did he side with Swing Bill at Newbury for his retained owner David Johnson, the man who has provided so many of the jockey’s big races successes including, most famously of all, the 2008 Aintree hero Comply or Die?

“David is the man who I am contractually committed to – and he’s been fantastic to me over the years. My wife Verity and Mr Green understand,” said Murphy.

Indeed, Murphy has known the leading owner – whose Poker De Sivola was a Cheltenham winner 12 months ago for West Witton trainer Ferdy Murphy – longer than his wife and her family.

Johnson was among those prepared to give the jockey a second chance when he was freed from jail after being imprisoned for three months for assaulting a stewardess on a flight home from Japan in 2002.

Their partnership blossomed further when Our Vic won the 2006 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

Murphy, now free from the demons of alcohol, is also indebted to the enduring support of his wife who has provided the domestic stability that has enabled his career to prosper – and allow her husband to be selective over for whom he rides.

“I’d love to be at Doncaster, but David has to come first,” said the 36-year-old who is one of a select number of riders to have ridden more than 1,000 career winners.

“My good friend Tom Siddall has the honour. Merigo is a lovely horse who is desperate for a run, but meetings have been off. We were sixth last year and then won at Ayr.

“If he wins (today), and he has a chance, he will be a great bet for the National. He’ll have a lovely weight; the worry will be whether he makes the 40-runner cut. It’ll be touch and go.

“He’s not as quick as Comply or Die, but he just keeps battling on. He’s no less a horse and Mr Green, as a proud Scot, had wanted to win the Scottish National for years – I was delighted to reward his faith.”

Murphy’s appraisal of Merigo is shared by the horse’s Lockerbie-based trainer Andrew Parker who said last night: “We’ve been struggling since Christmas to get a race into him and this is the route we took last year before the Scottish National so we are doing the same again.

“It will blow some cobwebs away and let us know how much work we’ve got to do before April. We just hope he stays on down the straight; it’s a stepping stone to either Aintree or Ayr.”

That last comment – either the Grand National or Scottish National – prompts Murphy to break into a chuckle.

He knows what it could mean if both Comply or Die and Merigo line up at Aintree: does he stay loyal to the ageing veteran who provided him with a career-defining victory three years ago, and who is probably past his best at 12 years of age, or go with his father-in-law’s horse who may be the more likely winner of the world’s greatest steeplechase?

“Can I ride both?” asked the jockey who is already preparing for life after racing by developing his own stables near Cheltenham to ‘break in’ young horses.

He has, however, no immediate plans to end his riding career nor is he contemplating a career as a trainer. “You never say never, but I’d rather someone else had the stress of training and I just did the preparation. I have 10 horses in at the moment; it’s good fun,” he said.

Murphy believes Swing Bill, a winner at Wincanton last month, is well handicapped to win Newbury’s Greatwood Chase and deny Big Fella Thanks, now trained in Yorkshire by the jockey’s namesake Ferdy, a second successive victory in this three-mile contest.

In the Grimthorpe, the horse to beat is Howard Johnson’s Presenting Forever who, on his last outing, was narrowly beaten at Cheltenham by Midnight Chase after being overhauled on the run-in.

Victory for Presenting Forever – who will be ridden by in-form Brian Hughes – would certainly confirm Midnight Chase’s credentials as steeplechasing’s emerging star ahead of his own date with destiny in the Gold Cup.

Yet this is a highly competitive Grimthorpe with Johnson’s former stable jockey Denis O’Regan bullish at the prospect of being reunited with old favourite Killyglen.

O’Regan was the nine-year-old’s regular partner when both were attached to the Johnson yard, but O’Regan now rides as a freelance and Killyglen is trained in Ireland by Stuart Crawford.

The last time Killyglen won was in 2009 for O’Regan at Aintree and the jockey hopes the return to a decent surface on Town Moor will spark an upturn in fortunes.

“He’s a cracking horse on his day,” said O’Regan. “He’ll love the ground, if it stays good, and he should be competitive.

“The day he won at Aintree he looked very good. A return to that form would make him hard to beat. He’s run a couple of races this season and I presume he’ll head for the National (after today).”

At least O’Regan’s choice of National rides will be relatively simple, even more so now Black Apalachi – who he rode into second place last year – is out for the season. If only Timmy Murphy could say the same as the ultimate loyalty test beckons.

[email protected]