Irish trio battling to be crowned UK champion jockey as Oisin Murphy's odds cut
An Irish trio are in the running for the UK Flat Jockey Championships, with the season beginning at the start of the month.
The bookies favourite so far is 24-year-old Rossa Ryan from Tuam, who was the 2023/24 British All-Weather Champion Jockey.
Oisin Murphy has impressed with his early-season performances and now lies at joint-second favourite, with the reigning champion hoping to keep his reign going.
Aiming to stop him will be 19-year-old Billy Loughnane, with the reigning All-Weather Champion hot on Murphy's heels.
The season began with the Guineas Meeting in Newgarden on the 3rd of May, with Charlie Appleby's Ruling Court winning under William Buick.
The final day of the championship season will be at Champions Day in Ascot this October.
BoyleSports has slashed the odds on Oisin Murphy being crowned Champion Flat Jockey into just 2/1 (from 7/2) after a four-timer at Windsor on Monday increased his lead at the top of the table to five.
The 29-year-old, who has won four of the last six flat jockey championships, is now rated the joint-second favourite alongside rising star, Billy Loughnane (2/1), who has already been crowned champion jockey on the all-weather last month and champion apprentice in 2024.
Rossa Ryan remains the favourite at 6/4 with BoyleSports as the Arc winning rider looks to go one better than last year's campaign when finishing runner-up to Oisin Murphy, who had a colossal 53 winners in hand when the curtain came down on the season.
In the trainers' battle, Aidan O'Brien remains an odds-on 8/11 shot for an eighth title, with Charlie Appleby (2/1), who has claimed the opening two Classics of the season, and current table topper Andrew Balding (6/1) leading the chasing pack.
Brian O'Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: 'It's very early days in the race to be crowned Champion Flat Jockey, but Oisin Murphy has really hit the ground running and punters are latching onto last year's champion to claim his fifth crown this season.'
With plenty still to play for, it's clear that Ryan, Murphy and Loughnane are all going to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Owen Farrell gives his verdict on The Lions' disappointing loss to Argentina
Owen Farrell believes the British and Irish Lions will learn 'a hell of a lot' from their disappointing defeat to Argentina. The touring side were playing their first game ever at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday night, and in front of a jam-packed 51,700 crowd, they struggled to get into their groove and were deservedly beaten by the Pumas. While there were brief flashes in attack, The Lions were sloppy throughout with far too many balls hitting the deck, an area which must be addressed ahead of the start of the tour of Australia next week. Ex-Lions star Farrell, whose Dad Andy is the coach of the Lions this time around, thinks that despite the worrying result, the Lions still have the chance to get back on track provided they learn from their mistakes. "I think a lot of the game was played in the right parts of the field," Farrell said in his punditry role on Sky Sports last night. "Obviously a lot of balls didn't stick and there will be a lot of images that they'll look back on the game from and learn from. I think Argentina did incredibly well to counter punch when they got the opportunity, whether it be a ball on the floor or a turnover, they seemed to turn things into points pretty quickly. "I'm sure the Lions boys will be frustrated, but I think the main thing is that they've played this great game now, this great competitive game that they've played in, and they'll have some images to go off to see what is the standard and what's not. "Why some of those balls went down, why some of those decisions were good and some not so good. I think they'll learn a hell of a lot, a hell of a lot about each other, a hell of a lot as a team and it will put them in good stead for next week." Head coach Andy Farrell pulled no punches in his criticism after the game, slamming his own performance as well as the team's while celebrating some wonderful rugby from Argentina. "Yeah, we made it a tough game, didn't we," he said. "Obviously the first and appropriate thing to say is congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win the Test match. "They capitalised very well on the back of quite a few errors from us. Congratulations to them. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean history. "You can try and throw it all around and say we had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better to convert that, but the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors. In the end, we weren't able to put the pace on the game because of that. 'We're not sugar-coating anything because we need to be honest because if we're not honest how do we gain trust with each other. We have to say it as it is. There are certain things we said we were going to do and we need to own that and review that properly." He will also review his own performance, which he described as "obviously not good enough" for this game. "I always take full responsibility, that's my role," he said. "It doesn't matter what department or whatever, I'm in charge of the job lot so it obviously wasn't good enough and I need to be better." "There is a burden involved in playing for the Lions, given the history and tradition, but Farrell says that his players must quickly move on from that. It's something that goes through your mind but we've got to own that," he insisted. "We've got to take responsibility for that. 'We are the British and Irish Lions so we've got to own the right to take that jersey forward. It shouldn't be heavy. We've got brilliant players within our squad and they need to embrace that.'
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Ireland stung by late Spanish double
Ireland 2-4 Spain Two late goals in the final quarter proved the difference as Ireland fell to a 4-2 loss to Spain in their penultimate FIH Pro League match. Ireland led on two occasions, with Johnny McKee opening the scoring after just three minutes and Lee Cole restoring Ireland's lead from the spot in the second quarter. However, a trio of goals in the final quarter, a brace from Nicolas Alvarez and a penalty corner from Pepe Cunill, saw Spain secure the win with a late comeback. Ireland started well. With their first attack of the game, Jeremy Duncan drove down the left, playing the ball into McKee who deflected past Rafael Revilla inside three minutes. Spain's response was swift, driving into the Irish half from the restart. They forced a save from Luke Rolleston and found the back of the net from the resulting scramble, but the goal was chalked off by the video umpire. Duncan had a shot on goal with Ireland's next entry into the Spanish half, but his reverse stick shot was wide of the post. Spain threatened again immediately after, picking the Irish pocket and slapping the ball just wide of the post. A late penalty corner in the first quarter for Spain gave them a chance and Bruno Avila took full advantage. Spain's intensity continued into the second quarter, where they found a way into the Irish circle from the restart, but Ireland scrambled well to clear. Roleston was called into action a few minutes later, his save falling to Nicolas on the back post. With the goal gaping, Alvarez struck at goal, but Adam McAllister was on hand to block the shot. Back-to-back penalty corners for Spain forced Ireland to defend, blocking both efforts as Ireland continued to weather the storm. A break away from Ben Nelson offered Ireland a chance to attack, forcing a save from Revilla. From the long corner, McKee won a penalty corner which Spain saved. Another counter-attack soon after ended in a penalty stroke, Louis Rowe being shoved in the back inside the circle. Cole stepped up to calmly slot the stroke into the net and restore Ireland's lead just before half-time. A late attack from Spain provided one of the few chances of the third quarter, with Jaime Carr, who replaced Roleston in the Irish net, alive to the threat to clear. Spain made an ideal start to the final quarter, Alvarez capitalising on a moment of luck to drive down the right flank and squeeze the ball into the Irish net from a tight angle. Ireland continued to absorb pressure, with a yellow card for Peter Brown meaning Ireland had to do it a player down. A breakaway from Nelson yet again saw him go one on one, taking the ball around Revilla and drawing contact from the keeper. The ball went wide but Ireland used their referral believing the contact was enough to warrant a second penalty stroke. The video umpire didn't agree, and Ireland lost their referral. A chance from nothing for Spain in the final three minutes saw them go a goal up, a hopeful ball into the circle evading the Irish defenders and Alvarez getting a deft touch to take it past Carr. A penalty corner a minute late put the game to bed, Cunill flicking into the net.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Bundee Aki: Lions must 'bounce back quickly' after defeat by Pumas
Bundee Aki insists the British and Irish Lions must recover rapidly after seeing their goal of completing an unbeaten tour thwarted even before arriving in Australia. The Lions slipped to a 28-24 defeat against Argentina in Dublin as they lost their tour opener for the first time since 1971, albeit against dangerous opponents whose surgical finishing demonstrated why they are ranked fifth in the world. Andy Farrell's men fly to Perth on Saturday and have four weeks to find the improvements needed to turn their ambitious but error-strewn performance into a formula capable of toppling the Wallabies. "Faz set out the aim for us to win every single game. To not be able to come out with the result that we wanted in the first game…this has got to be one of those things that we learn from quickly," Aki said. "We're adults, we're old enough to be able to take it on the chin and move on quickly. Faz gives it to us straight, there's no mucking around or no hiding here, he just tells you how it is. "There's no point in trying to sulk about it. If we bounce back quickly and try to get better every single day, this will only make us stronger and tighter." Aki's heavyweight centre partnership with Sione Tuipulotu generated the most excitement in selection ahead of the sold-out clash at Aviva Stadium, but the combination failed to add up to the sum of its parts. While the Ireland centre showed his strength as a carrier to surge over in the first half and Tuipulotu had his moments with the ball in hand, together they were unable to link in the way the Lions were seeking and are unlikely to be used in tandem in the Test series. "We all know how Sione (above) is as a player, he's class. The frustrating thing for me was I wasn't able to connect well with him," Aki said. "He's an unbelievable player and there's no excuses, we've got to get better as a partnership going forward. "Whoever plays – Garry Ringrose, Huw Jones, Elliot Daly – as a unit we've got to make sure we gel together and try to get that cohesiveness fairly quickly because we need to be better. "Sione has been my roomy lately. He snores a fair bit at the moment, so he keeps me up at night! But he's a great man. "He speaks out loud, which is good because we need him to be himself. I just feed off him and he feeds off me. So it's brilliant, but we've just got to be better and keep learning together." Aki, fly-half Fin Smith, prop Ellis Genge and wing Tommy Freeman were among those to advance their claims for a spot against Australia in the first Test on 19 July, while Duhan van der Merwe and Ben Earl took a step backwards. Aki admits that when they arise, chances to impress selectors during the 10-fixture itinerary must be taken. "When there's a group of 38 players from four different countries, you've obviously got to make sure you perform," he said. "Every single player that's been picked in the squad has to be able to do a job and if you don't deliver, there are guys who are willing to put their hand up and take that opportunity."
