Murphy gives Hughes a master class & possible Winter Derby shock @ 16-1

Yesterday became almost a carbon copy of Thursday with Seek The Fair Land replaced by Emerald Breeze and the 'Profile' horses only placing again! I am sure Hugh Taylor will certainly feel that his little black cloud has lifted with both his selections Biscuiteer and Breccbennach winning their respective races. Watching the re-runs on my return from Hospital last night, the one thing that grabbed my attention was the ride of Oisin Murphy on Purcell when head to head with Richard Hughes in Lingfield Parks 4:10.

It is hard to divorce jockey-ship from the calibre of the horse beneath, but I feel on this occasion that 3lb Claimer Oisin Murphy gave Hughes a master class. After duelling down the home straight with neither jockey giving an inch, the supremely confident Oisin Murphy appeared to do no more than stay with Hughes until asking for that little bit more in the final three strides to shade Hughes on Brownsea Brink. That one race alone shows for me what an exceptional talent Murphy is likely to become and how futile keeping the 3lb claim is likely to be.

We have some mouth-watering racing today at Lingfield Park today with Mr Murphy in the plate on Highland Knight (5:00) and Van Percy (5:30). Given how precious his claim is viewed you would be hard pressed to rule out the chances of either.

Looking through the candidates for The Winter Derby it is hard to ignore the front three in the market but the more you look, the more aware you become that the race is likely to have any number of hard-luck stories due to the field size and running styles. If we are to see the front three turned over it might just come in the form of Rebellious Guest who has to be a sound EW proposition at 16-1.

Keep well and enjoy your day ;)