Olly Murphy: stable stars update plus horses to follow

Olly Murphy says he is hoping to "unearth that next star" as he prepares to unleash a number of hugely promising youngsters over the coming weeks.

The Warwickshire-based handler looks to have assembled a strong team as the Jumps season prepares to notch up a gear, and with 18 winners from 94 runners (at the time of writing) already this season, Murphy has got off to a flying start.

Speaking to Josh Stacey on the Let's Talk Racing podcast, Murphy said: "I've certainly got a nice team of bumper horses and novice hurdlers this season. It's an exciting time of the year, and every National Hunt trainer, owner and jockey are looking forward to the next fortnight to three weeks!

"I've got some lovely unraced bumper horses to run, some lovely novice hurdlers and some nice novice chasers, so hopefully we can take that next step up the ladder this season, and unearth that next star!"

Here's what Murphy had to say about his squad:

He's a fairly easy horse to place (Aintree, Relkeel Hurdle, National Spirit and the race he won at Lingfield two years ago are among his options).

He's been an absolute star for myself and Barbara Hester. I must admit, probably bar training Itchy Feet to win a Grade One, him winning a second National Spirit gave me as big of a buzz and thrill that I'd had in a long time as his season hadn't gone to plan up until then and he'd had another major wind operation. It was very tight getting him to Fontwell, and for him to put in a performance like that was fantastic.

He's been a real flagbearer for me. He's obviously not getting any younger, but he's in great form, and we'll start him off at Aintree again and see how we get on.

I've been toing and froing with the idea (to send him over fences). I believe there's a very good handicap in him off his mark, and I still stand by this horse as much as any other horse in the yard. He's a phenomenal work horse. He definitely didn't run his race in the Supreme, and he definitely didn't run his race over two and a half miles on his last run at Cheltenham in April. He was as flat as a pancake.

He's in very good form, and he's schooled very well, and the plan is to go and jump a fence with him. He's a piece of work off a run, so I'd say he'll probably start off in a fortnight or three weeks time somewhere, and see how we get on.

Aidan (Coleman) has had a good relationship with this horse, but with Aidan being out injured at the moment, Sean Bowen will ride him. We'll get going with him over fences and see how we get on.

He won a point-to-point first time out for Tom and Gina Ellis. He's had a little wind operation and he'll start off in a maiden hurdle in 8-10 weeks time. He's a little bit behind the others, but he's a nice, big, good-looking horse who is jet black, the same as Strong Leader, and if he's half as good as him, his owners will have plenty of fun with him as well.

He's a very good horse. He's going to miss the first half of the season, and we're stuck between a rock and a hard stone because he's not going to be ready until after Christmas, so I don't know whether to jump a hurdle with him or not.

We'll probably give him another run in a bumper, but he's a horse I hold in extremely high regard. He's going to be a real dour stayer, but we won't see him for the first half of the season.

I'll have to speak with Max and Ella (Mcneill), and Greg (Stone), and make a decision. We'll have to decide on whether to kick on and have three runs over hurdles and lose the novice status, or give him a run in a bumper (maybe in that Listed race at Newbury) bite the bullet before jumping hurdles next season.

I thought turning in (at Aintree) he would win for a minute; he was just sneaking into the race, and I thought it was going to be a typical Jamie Codd ride. He jumped the third last, and his wind went, so he's since undergone a wind operation.

This horse hasn't reached the heights which he possibly should have done so far, but he's had an awful lot of issues, which wouldn't have been documented. He had a little hairline fracture to a pelvis, and then had a schooling accident at home, and things just didn't go right for him. Basically, he hasn't had the rub of the green, but he's in great form now and has had a gallop away from home recently.

I'm definitely going to give him a run over hurdles, just to knock the edge off him, and to hopefully make him realise that he can breathe, and then I imagine he'll be jumping a fence after that. I'd like to think he's going to improve plenty, and he's certainly on a favourable mark. I'm just hoping this will be his year. A rating of 126 is definitely workable, and he's a horse who is definitely handicapped to be better than his current mark. He's just had his issues, and having a clean run with him is very important. They've all been little issues, but hopefully they're all behind him, and I can get to the bottom of finding all that ability he has this year.

He's the most beautiful horse you will ever see. He will start off in a two-mile maiden hurdle. He shocked me more than anyone else (when winning on debut at Wetherby) as he was a big, backward horse who needed a bit of time, and was put on the back burner.

I've trained a lot of horses for Diana and Graham Whateley, and they're unbelievable people to train for as they put no pressure on you, and they love buying unraced horses. Some work out, some don't, but it's the way they like buying their horses.

I actually took Indeevar Blue away one day and galloped him, but unfortunately the horse who was alongside him suffered a fatal injury while galloping, so he ended up not working at all.

I said to my assistant, Gerald Tumelty, that we will forget galloping him again and we'll just run him. I'll ring Graham and tell him there's been a disaster when trying to gallop him, and we will give him a run instead. If he goes and finishes mid-division then great.

Not that I have any of my bumper horses revved up first time out, but he was certainly going to the races undercooked. I was actually at Market Rasen when he ran at Wetherby, and I remember running into the bookmakers and seeing he was 11-10. I was watching with my father and I said to him this is the worst 11-10 shot you will ever see in your life, because I knew how little he had done!

Sean (Bowen) rang me afterwards and said "where have you been hiding this lad?!". He was very raw, very green, and won extremely well. Sean couldn't pull him up until halfway round the back straight, and he looks a lovely, lovely horse.

It certainly did (give me some buzz!). My bumper horses tend to run well; not because they're galloped hard, but because they see alot before they go racing. They'll have been on grass, they'll have been on a lorry four or five times, they'll have gone and galloped away from home a few times. So they've seen a bit of the world before they go racing, and my father buys a nice type of horse. This lad hadn't, though, and that's why it shocked me so much.

He's summered really well, he's schooled great and we'll start him off in a two-mile maiden hurdle at a big track somewhere. He could be a very nice horse.

I probably didn't think that was the right thing to do (run at Aintree last season when she was entered). She's a lovely filly who has jumped very, very well and is ready to start off in a fortnight when the ground eases.

She's a mare I like. I train a lot of horses by Kayf Tara, and I believe they improve with age. I'm looking forward to her. We'll start off her off against her own sex and see how we get on, but it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that she would be able to pick up some black type somewhere. She'll definitely make a chaser as well.

Being by Kayf Tara out of Whoops A Daisy, she's qualified for these bonuses as well, so if we win a few of them, it certainly helps the bank balance!

It's great having them in the yard (Sao Carlos is now owned by Ged Mason, Sir Alex Ferguson, John Hales and J Driver). John Hales and the Hales family have been big supporters of mine since I started training, so I'm chuffed they've bought this lad.

He's another horse I think a lot of. My Dad did own him, and I had so many bumper horses to run over Christmas, and there was a newcomers bumper at Market Rasen. I wanted to run something in it, and he obviously hadn't run before, so I galloped him. He galloped really well, and the lads just said "if you want to be double-sure, gallop him again. Otherwise run him, and he'll run well".

So he went to that race undercooked, rather than overcooked (as I didn't gallop him again) and I loved that when Sean sat into him turning in, he shot ten lengths clear within five strides, and he then got a bit lonely half a furlong out.

He's a nice horse who jumps well and is another by Blue Bresil, so should be a straightforward horse. Hopefully he'll be a nice horse for the guys involved.

He's a nice horse, it just wasn't the right thing to run him at the backend of last season. He had a few growing pains and little niggles, but he's in good form now.

We'll start him off in a bumper before going novice hurdling, and he's another by Blue Bresil!

He's another horse I'm looking forward to.

He ran OK in the Supreme, but I was actually disappointed with both of my horses in the Supreme. I think they're both a lot better than those efforts. Strong Leader went and ran a great race in the two-mile Grade One at Aintree, but I don't think he was at his best that day, either. I'd love him to have another go at it and hope he'd go through the race a little bit better than he went through it that day. He ran very well, though. Hopefully he can take that next step up and tackle graded company in open company over hurdles.

He was very, very unnatural to start with over hurdles, and I mean extremely unnatural. He was probably the most unnatural horse that I've trained here at Warren Chase Stables! An awful lot of work has gone into him, and Laura Collett has done an awful lot with this horse. So I wasn't sure the right thing to do this season was go jumping fences this season.

If things go "Pete Tong" on his first couple of runs over hurdles this season, we might re-assess that plan and have a look at jumping a fence before Christmas, but plans are firmly to stay over hurdles as we feel like we have a bit of unfinished business plus he still has untapped potential over hurdles.

His sectional times over two miles were actually very, very good, so I do think he has got plenty of toe. Sectional times isn't something I usually look into - a couple of people a little bit sharper than me that do look into them mentioned it to me a couple of times!

He's a funny horse; he actually trains at home like a very slow horse, almost like he's a three-miler. When he won his bumper at Warwick, he turned in on the bridle and when Adrian Heskin gave him a kick in the belly, he took off. He shocked me more than anyone that day! Could he go two and a half miles in time? Most definitely, but we will definitely start him off over two.

The one race he didn't go through very well was his run at Aintree, but apart from that, he's actually jumped and travelled well over two miles. I don't see any reason why that trip is going to be an issue this season, and the plan is to go to Ffos Las for the Welsh Champion Hurdle. That's where he's going to start, all being well, and then we'll take the rest of the year from there.