Comeback jockey Michael Murphy has been given a million chances by just about everybody in racing.
After yesterday I have come to the conclusion that he doesn’t deserve any.
Murphy was riding the horse in the white colours behind the leader in the 6th at Rockhampton yesterday.
A gap opened up between the two horses in front of them that was big enough to drive a truck through.
M. Murphy ignored it.
Instead he took a sustained peep over his left shoulder and saw that there was a horse outside him and no run there, then just decided ‘who cares?’, and came across in front of the horse in pink and absolutely barrelled it, causing a chain reaction that inflicted interference on that horse and at least three other runners.
It was just plain good luck that there wasn’t a fall, or maybe even two or three.
This was reckless riding of the highest order, and dangerous too.
The Stewards are hopeless.
They only charged Murphy with careless riding.
It wasn’t.
Murphy copped 12 days.
He should go and buy himself a lottery ticket.