Murtagh crowned top man again

Bohermeen jockey Johnny Murtagh regained the top spot in Irish flat racing when he was crowned champion jockey on the final day of the turf season at Leopardstown on Sunday. Murtagh took the title from last year's champion Pat Smullen with a double at the Foxrock track which gave him 83 winners for the season, four ahead of Smullen who took the runner-up position. Takar came home a very easy winner for Murtagh and he was also successful in the Listed Eyrefield Lodge Stakes with Call To Battle which completed a double for the jockey and trainer John Oxx. Murtagh had been champion on four occasions previously having won the title for the first time in 1995. This year he has enjoyed another excellent season that included his first victory in the Irish St Leger at the Curragh on the English-trained Jukebox Jury (dead-heated for first place). In England he won the Epsom Oaks on the William Haggas-trained Dancing Rain and the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on the Ger Lyons-trained Lightening Pearl for his 99th group one winner. "To be champion jockey in Ireland means you've been very consistent throughout the year, one of the highlights would have been dead-heating in the Irish St Leger on Jukebox Jury, that was my first win in that race and I've won all the Irish classics," commented Murtagh. Following his departure from Ballydoyle last year, Murtagh again teamed up with Curragh trainer John Oxx and the Aga Khan and the partnership certainly produced the right rresults. "It's great for Johnny, he has been determined all year, it has been a big effort and he has shown enthusiasm and dedication and is still one of the best in Europe," commented Oxx. Murtagh also rides out each week for Kiltale-based Lyons who provided the Bohermeen man with many winners including one at Dundalk on Friday night. World and European Boxing champion Katie Taylor presented the trophy to Murtagh at Leopardstown. Last year Taylor was Murtagh's special guest when the Meath man launched his boxing club in Kildare town, where he lives with his wife Orla and children. On Sunday, Murtagh received a perpetual Irish silver trophy, made especially for Horse Racing Ireland by master craftsmen from Dublin-based Alwright & Marshall. The trophy is set on a mahogany base and engraved with the names of the champion jockeys since 1950. He also received a hand-made silver tankard with a solid silver horse's head as its handle to keep as a memento of the most recent success in a long and glittering career.