Oisin Murphy, the reigning champion jockey on the Flat, was fined £70,000 with an additional £2,000 surcharge and £85 in costs at Reading magistrates court on Thursday after pleading guilty to a drink driving charge following a crash in the early hours of 27 April.
Murphy, 29, who was also banned from driving for 20 months, was described in court as having tested “just shy” of twice the legal limit for alcohol around seven hours after the crash. He returned a reading of 66 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, well above the legal limit of 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.
He was not required to plead to an additional charge of failing to provide a test sample at the roadside, following what was described to the court as “a misunderstanding between him and the police officers” by Richard Atkins, representing the Crown Prosecution Service.
Atkins told the court that Murphy “appeared to be intoxicated” when police attended the scene of the crash, and that he admitted having been the driver of the grey Mercedes A-Class car involved, which left the road near Hermitage, West Berkshire, and collided with a tree. A female passenger in the car was subsequently taken to hospital.
Murphy missed four booked rides at Southwell later the same day, but returned to race-riding at Windsor on the evening of 28 April, where he rode a double. He has continued to ride subsequently, partnering big-race winners including Lead Artist in the Group One Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May, and holds a clear lead in the race for the 2025 Flat jockeys’ championship.
Alex Di Francesco, Murphy’s barrister, told the hearing that the jockey “wants to apologise, first to his passenger, to the public and other road users … and he wants to apologise to those whom he works alongside.”
Passing sentence, district judge Sam Goozee told Murphy that he was “lucky that neither you nor your passenger nor any member of the public was injured” in the crash.”
Goozee added that while two aggravating factors in the incident – the fact that Murphy had been involved in a collision, and that he was driving with a passenger – would “normally be considered serious enough for a community penalty”, he had also considered that the jockey had shown remorse for his actions and told Murphy that he had “recognised that you have let the public down by virtue of your actions, and your colleagues in the racing world.”
Judge Goozee based his penalty on reported “net winnings” by Murphy of £250,000 in 2024, and a salary – from riding fees – of £1,250 per week.
Murphy, who declined to comment as he left the court, later released a statement on X. “I would like to sincerely apologise for my actions,” Murphy said. “I know that drink driving is unacceptable and there is no excuse for what I did. I have let a lot of people down. I particularly want to apologise to my passenger and to her family.
“Due to the police investigation, I have so far been able to share only minimal details of my offence with the British Horseracing Authority. I will now be fully co-operative with their inquiries.
“It would not be appropriate for me to comment further until that process is concluded.”
Murphy was the champion jockey on the Flat for three years running from 2019, but was banned from riding for 14 months by the British Horseracing Authority from December 2021 after admitting to a series of disciplinary offences, including misleading BHA officials, breaches of Covid-19 protocols and two failed breath tests for alcohol before racing.
The BHA applied what were described as “additional conditions” to Murphy’s riding licence when he returned to action in February 2023, but it is currently unclear whether the conditions were still in place at the time of the crash.
The Authority said in a statement on Thursday that “everyone at the BHA, like all involved in our sport, is disappointed today having learned the details of the offence to which Oisin Murphy has pleaded guilty. This is a very serious offence that, in the course of being committed, saw Mr Murphy jeopardise not only his own safety but that of his passenger and all other people travelling on the roads at the same time as him that night.”
The statement continued: “His conduct fell a long way short of the standard we expect of all licensed individuals, in whom we place trust that they will represent our sport to the best of their abilities, upholding our collective reputation and ensuring racing is a safe place for all.
Doncaster 1.43 Dream Pirate 2.15 Mon Na Slieve 2.50 Bahadur 3.25 Elsass (nap) 4.00 Alondra 4.35 Pearly Squirrel 5.10 Sugar Baby
Sandown 1.50 Warning Sign 2.25 Key Of Magic 3.00 Staya 3.35 Getreadytorumble 4.10 Checkandchallenge 4.45 Al Nayyir 5.20 Triple Gee
Newton Abbot 1.58 Isle Of Sark 2.33 Keel Strand 3.08 Kenmya 3.43 Shillanavogy 4.18 Max Of Stars 4.53 Jony Max
Haydock 5.30 U Turn 6.05 Kingmaker 6.40 Dream Angel 7.15 Artanis 7.50 Indian Springs 8.25 Desert Falcon
Beverley 5.42 Soca Star 6.15 Emeralds Pride 6.50 Orbaan 7.25 Atmosphere (nb) 8.00 Tara Iti 8.35 Overlooked
Bangor 5.56 Tango Theatre 6.30 Herja 7.05 Barranco 7.40 Donnie Azoff 8.15 Land Girl’s Luck 8.50 Elusive Power
“In light of Mr Murphy’s guilty plea and the information revealed in court today, we will be working on the addition of new conditions on his licence that may be referred to the Licensing Committee for their consideration. As has been the case in recent weeks, Mr Murphy remains free to take up his riding engagements.”
Murphy is retained to ride for Sheikh Fahad al-Thani’s Qatar Racing, is booked to ride the operation’s New Century in the $750,000 Belmont Derby at Saratoga in upstate New York on Friday, which is due off at 11.45pm BST. He is then scheduled to be riding at the high-profile Sandown Eclipse meeting back in the UK on Saturday.
