Olly Murphy is the son of former trainer Anabel Murphy (née King) and spent four years as assistant trainer to Gordon Elliott in Longwood, Co. Meath before taking out a licence in his own right. Based at Warren Chase Stables, a converted stud in the village of Wilmcote, near Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, Murphy made an immediate impact, saddling a winner with his first-ever runner, Dove Mountain, ridden by Luke Morris, in a mile-and-a-quarter handicap on the Flat at Brighton on July 4, 2017. Five days later, on July 9, 2017, his first two runners under National Hunt Rules, Gold Class, ridden by Bryony Frost, and Banff, ridden by Gina Andrews, finished first and second in a lady amateur riders’ handicap hurdle at Market Rasen. Shortly afterwards, he said, “We’ve had a magic start. It’s been the kind of thing we could only have dreamt of.”
After saddling 47 winners in his inaugural season, Murphy maintained his momentum, with 82, 67, 80, 92 and 81 winners in the next five seasons, before reaching his maiden century, with 102 winners, in 2023/24. He trained his first Grade 1 winner, Itchy Feet, ridden by Gavin Sheehan, in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown on February 1, 2020 and his second, Strong Leader, in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree on April 13, 2024.
The 2024/25 National Hunt season, which he later described as “a breakthrough year in many ways”, proved to be his best yet, numerically and fiscally. Murphy saddled 141 winners from 570 runners, at a healthy 25% strike rate, and amassed £1.71 million in total prize money, which was enough to finish fifth in the National Hunt Trainers’ Championship. High-profile victories that season included Pickanumber, ridden by Dylan Johnston, in the Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock in May, Sure Touch, ridden by Harry Cobden, in the Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen in July, Booster Bob in the Greatwood Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury and Go Dante in the Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle at Sandown, both in March, and Resplendent Glory in the Bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase, also at Sandown, in April; the last three named were all ridden by Sean Bowen.
