Born in Killarney, County Kerry on September 6, 1995, Oisin Murphy is the nephew of Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National winning jockey Jim Culloty. A graduate of the pony racing circuit, he became apprenticed to Andrew Balding in Kingsclere, Hampshire in late 2012 and rode his first winner, Imperial Glance, trained by Balding, in an apprentice handicap at Salisbury on June 16, 2013. On September 21 that same year, Murphy announced himself to the wider racing public by riding the last four winners on the Ayr Gold Cup card, including the Ayr Gold Cup winner, Highland Colori, also trained by Balding, at cumulative odds of 9,260/1.
Despite Balding restricting him to Class 4 level and above, to protect his claim, Murphy rode 44 winners in his inaugural season on British soil. In 2014, he increased his seasonal tally to 76 winners, the highest recorded by an apprentice since Paul Hanagan in 2002, riding out his claim and being crowned British Champion Apprentice. He also rode his first Pattern winner, Hot Streak, trained by Kevin Ryan, in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock on May 24, 2014.
As a fully-fledged professional, further milestones followed in 2017, with a first Royal Ascot winner, Benbatl, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, in the Hampton Court Stakes and a first Group 1 winner, Aclaim, trained by Martyn Meade, in the Prix de la Foret at Chantilly. Murphy became British Champion Jockey for the first time in 2019, with a seasonal tally of 220 winners – still his best ever – and took the title again in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. At the time of writing he has 32 Group 1 wins worldwide to his name, including two British Classics.
Despite his success on the racecourse, Murphy has regularly fallen foul of the authorities because of disciplinary problems related to drugs and alcohol. He has been stood down from riding on several occasions after failing breath tests, received a three-month ban after testing positive for cocaine, albeit from environmental contamination, received a further 14-month ban for various rule breaches, including two more alcohol breaches, and a criminal conviction for driving while over the drink-drive limit, resulting in a £70,000 fine and a 20-month driving ban.
According to the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Murphy remains “subject to stringent conditions, including detailed and strict procedures relating to further enhanced testing, both on and off the racecourse.”