Hot jock targets Summer Cup

WALKABOUT: HEADS TO TURFFONTEIN TO CHECK OUT TRACK FOR HIS RIDE ON FRANCES ETHEL

- Mike Moon

Within hours of his plane touching down in Joburg, UK champion jockey Oisin Murphy was walking the course at Turffontein in blazing sunshine, checking out the condition of the turf ahead of his ride in the R6 million Betway Summer Cup over 2000m today.

Meticulous preparation makes for champions.

Greg Wood, racing writer for London's The Guardian, describes Murphy as "an intensely thoughtful and analytical rider, who assesses his own performances and the form of top-level and day-to-day racing in granular detail".

"Relentless attention to the detail and nuances of race-riding has been a hallmark of Murphy's career from an early stage."

For the 29-year-old Irishman, it was never going to be a case of dropping into South Africa to pick up the cheque for a publicity stunt.

He is indeed a star turn on the big day at the Big T but has expressed determination to do his utmost to win Joburg's premier race and repay the faith of people who brought him all the way from Britain just to spend a couple of minutes in the saddle of a filly called Frances Ethel.