Ciaran Murphy

From amateur jockey to assistant trainer involved with pre-training and now license holder himself, Ciaran Murphy has seen horse racing from many angles over the years. Now he’s training for himself in Ireland and looking to use the wealth of experience he’s gained over the years as a positive.

Murphy started off riding on the amateur point-to-point scene, forming a partnership with trainer Dot Love. He rode 38 winners, and included in those was Dot’s first winner, which came at Kilbeggan in 2001, carving out a strong career but one that was always leading towards training horses.

He moved on to become an assistant trainer to Love, and in 2013, the pair won the Irish Grand National with Liberty Counsel. At the time, it was the biggest-priced winner of the race at 50/1, though the record would be beaten in later years.

At the Charlestown Stud, where they trained, Murphy saw some of the finest young horses begin their racing careers. Grand National winners Tiger Roll and Rule the World both started off there, as did Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Don Cossack and War Of Attrition.

So while Murphy wasn’t having huge success on the big stage himself, he was playing a small role in developing young horses and setting them up to become superstars of the future with other trainers.

In January 2021, Dot Love retired from training, and the reins were passed onto Ciaran Murphy, who set up and had a winner with just his fourth runner hitting the ground running. That horse was Enjoy D’Allen, who would go on to finish third in the 2021 Irish Grand National and become Murphy’s first Aintree Grand National runner when he ran in the 2022 edition of the race.

Full Results

Famous Horses Trained by Ciaran Murphy

Here are some of the big names trained by Ciaran Murphy.

Enjoy D’Allen