Declan settles in and there’s no looking back

Former Victorian harness racing young gun Declan Murphy headed across the border to help out a friend campaigning in New South Wales a year ago – but now looks set to stay put!

“I’ve been up here for 12 months and I’m really enjoying myself,” Murphy said.

“I’m not travelling all over the place to accept race drives and nearly every week I’m at Newcastle, Penrith, Bathurst and Menangle. It’s a nice routine with eight to 10 drives a week and those tracks aren’t far away. I’m appreciative of the support I am getting,” he said.

“The other day I decided to change my driver’s licence to NSW so it looks like it could become permanent!”

Murphy said while he still kept a close eye on Victorian results, he was enjoying far better weather in Sydney, noting that his native Ballarat could be a little difficult in the winter months!

He followed his well-known and popular dad David into the sport, helping out around the stables from an early age and becoming a driver at age 16.

“I wasn’t all that good at school and I would always rather go to the trots. The teachers virtually told mum and dad I’d be better off leaving, so it was always going to be harness racing for me,” Murphy said.

Now the 21-year-old has a nice milestone in his sights, with recent successes having him just 10 away from the magical 100 victories.

In his first season, he landed two winners from just 17 drives, but his best result thus far was in season 2023 when he steered home 50 winners.

Murphy celebrated his 21st birthday a few days ago with a Newcastle winner in Tell Me This (Mach Three) for the successful Rickie Alchin team, where he is working.

“I live pretty much on their property at Menangle Park, which is right across from the Menangle track,” he said.

“Rickie is a great mentor and teaches you along the way. He’s so well regarded for his breaking-in of youngsters and also his training methods and I can say firsthand that he lives up to what people say about him.

“The stable numbers can get up to around 40 at times, but that will include a lot of two-year-olds and yearlings.

“I’m involved with the training side of it in the mornings, and then they concentrate on the breakers.

“Rick Hunt is also here and he’s a very good horseman.”

Murphy said driving at Menangle was completely different to competing on any track in Victoria.

“It’s more tactical than what I’m used to and I’ve learnt that if you are in the back half, you can’t make a move until you are sure of how it might be going to unfold,” he said.

“I’m still not the greatest driver on an 800-metre track, but if I land in the top half of the field, I suppose I’m not bad.  But at Menangle, I’ve got a rule that I wait a little longer and count to 10 before pulling out!”

But Murphy might just be under-selling himself a little as a Goulburn victory on 10-year-old pacer Loyola Golf (Major in Art), owned by his mum, a fortnight ago, was the perfect drive – followed by a Penrith placing the next night on the same horse.

“The horse went really well, and I knew he would back up okay because we’ve changed a few things with him,” he said.

“He was a bit of a guessing game for a while because he’d hit the last bend feeling good, and then just plug away. We started training him on a helmet and changed his feed a bit.

“It’s all a fine line so to remember what we’ve done with him out on the track and in regard to his feed, I now write it all down in a book.”

Coincidentally, Declan drove Loyola Golf when owned and trained in Victoria by the late Norm McVitty a few seasons ago.

“Norm and his family were wonderful people and very passionate about the sport,” Murphy said.

“I remember I was very busy helping dad at a particular meeting because he had three or four in a race. I got to talk to Norm a bit late prior to driving his horse and it was probably fortunate that I won.

“Norm told me that next time I drove for him, he would appreciate it if I made it around to the stable a lot earlier so we could discuss the race and tactics.

“I’ve never forgotten that and now I’m always around seeing the trainers early.

“Loyola Golf was always a lovely natured horse and Norm could always pick out a horse and improve it. He was a very good trainer.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink