Big races for Murphy

Large purse of R300 000 has drawn a competitive line-up.

- Mike Moon

The newly crowned British champion jockey Oisin Murphy has five rides on Joburg's biggest race day and is pressed into action as early as Race 2. In that Conditional Maiden Plate up the 1160m straight track he partners Green Street, a three-year-old filly likely to start as one of the favourites.

An uncommonly large purse of R300,000 for a maiden has drawn a highly competitive line-up of promising young horses.

Green Street has as good a chance as any of the 18, but the combination of Murphy and leading Highveld trainer Sean Tarry will get plenty of punters onside.

The daughter of champion sire Gimmethegreenlight was runner-up in her only outing to date and will be a lot more track savvy this time.

The competition is fierce, not least from two stablemates, with the betting being a likely guide to Tarry's assessment of his posse.

The bottom line is that Murphy's first ride in South Africa must be included in all bets, but cannot be a banker for exotics.