Murphy brings up 200 for the year at Goodwood

Irishman will be crowned champion again at Ascot.

Oisin Murphy survived a stewards’ inquiry to notch his 200th British winner of the year at Goodwood on Sunday.

Murphy was aboard Qetaifan in the William Hill/British EBF Restricted Novice Stakes and while his mount hung across second-placed Great in the closing stages, the stewards were satisfied the interference had no impact on the result.

Murphy’s previous yearly best was 220 winners in 2019, and with some high-profile international engagements on the horizon the focus is on recording as many victories as he can before jetting off.

“I’m delighted to get there eventually – I didn’t have any winners over the last two days at Newmarket,” he told Racing TV.

“It was nice that horse managed to win again and hopefully between now and the Breeders’ Cup I can get a few more winners in Britain.

“It’s nice if you can ride at a healthy strike-rate and I feel if I’m taking a large number of rides and there’s plenty of chances there, then hopefully it’s better than 20 per cent.

“That’s really the target, I didn’t have a figure in mind but I wanted to keep a healthy percentage.”

Murphy will shortly be crowned Flat champion jockey for a fourth time, with the Irishman well clear of Rossa Ryan in a competition that concludes at Ascot on Saturday.

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