Training licence since 2013
Based at Fox Covert Stables, Kildare Town, Ireland
During an outstanding career as a jockey, Johnny Murtagh was crowned Champion Jockey in Ireland five times and won many of the most prestigious races in Europe and the world. He boasts the full collection of Irish Classics and all the Group 1 contests of Royal Ascot, as well as the Epsom Derby, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Johnny Murtagh enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Aga Khan Studs during his time as first jockey for John Oxx from 1992 to 2003, notably partnering the Champion Sinndar to dual Derby successes at Epsom and the Curragh and to victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2000. He was also the rider of Timarida for her three top-level wins, and lifted important prizes with Kalanisi (Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf), Enzeli (Ascot Gold Cup) and Alamshar (Irish Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes). The professional renewed his association with the Aga Khan Studs as retained jockey in Ireland in 2011 and 2012, and this period was marked by his victory aboard Valyra in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly. In total, Johnny Murtagh carried the royal green and red silks to 16 Group 1 successes around the world. Johnny Murtagh took out his training licence in 2013, based at Fox Covert Stables at the Curragh, and good results quickly followed, with five Stakes wins in Ireland and England during his first season as a trainer. He registered his first Group 1 victory as a trainer thanks to Champers Elysees who lifted the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown during Irish Champions Weekend in 2020. A new chapter in the association between Johnny Murtagh and H.H. the Aga Khan began in 2020, as the trainer welcomed his first yearlings raised by the Aga Khan Studs.
