Royal Ascot is live on Sky Sports Racing from June 18-22
Tuesday 18 June 2019 12:05, UK
How do you ride the perfect Royal Ascot race? Oisin Murphy - a future Champion jockey no doubt - walks the track with Sky Sports Racing.
There is no greater stage for a jockey to showcase their talents than Royal Ascot. Heading into the meeting Murphy is clear at the top of the Flat Jockeys Championship and he has a brilliant book of rides for the week. There's a feeling that this could be the year Murphy announces himself on racing's biggest stage.
Sky Sports Racing's Jason Weaver - a former top-class rider himself - went to pick Murphy's brains ahead of the meeting in order to dissect about how to tactically ride the best race over both the straight and round tracks.
Q: How fair is the track?
Murphy says: I think it's a fair track. Throughout the week racing pundits will say you need to be in a certain place but it's all about where the pace is. You are at an advantage following speed horses. It's a beautiful surface, very wide and spacious. You do need a bit of luck in running too.
They re-laid the straight course a few years ago - it rides faster than the round course. I was lucky enough to come up this straight with Roaring Lion in the QEII, so let's hope I get on a couple more fast ones at Royal Ascot.
The track is slightly uphill from the mile start all the way to the three pole and then gets flatter but then rises as you get towards the winning post. When you're riding though you don't notice any undulations. It can be a long last furlong!
Q: What's the atmosphere like in the jockey's weighing room?
Murphy says: It's a different atmosphere for Royal Ascot week. Everyone is nervous, a bit tense especially if you have a few good rides on the day. You've also got the international riders in there - the French and Australian boys. They often have winners here.
You want to get in and through the crowds to hide yourself away as quick as possible. There's a lot of pressure, the pinnacle of your career so you just want things to go right.
Q: Can you win from being drawn wide on the round course?
Murphy says: If you're drawn wide and there's pace on, it's easier to get into a rhythm. But when they go slow and you get caught wide with no cover, it's far from ideal. It's never good to be caught wide on any track but here there are sweeping bends going into the straight, so the closer you can get to the rail the better. There's plenty of noise from the jockeys too, if we had the microphones on you'd have to press the mute button!
Q: What's the main difference between the straight and round track?
Murphy says: We don't use the round mile often - it's easier to ride on the straight mile. You get a long time to get organised but you're afraid to drop to the fence because you may get stuck behind a bad horse before the race even gets going.
The bend can ride pretty sharp - you've got to get close to the rail in order to save ground. You can set your race up from here as it's seven from home. It's downhill then a good climb home. Around the turn good horses can stride past the ordinary ones.
Every race is live on Sky Sports Racing - all the action starts on Tuesday 18.
Sky Sports subscribers will also be able watch via the Sky Sports app or the Sky Go app.
Non-subscribers can watch all the action through NOW TV. A Sky Sportsday pass is available for £8.99, a week pass for £14.99 or a month pass for £33.99. NOW TV can be streamed through a computer or apps.
Also, you can follow all the action across our digital platforms with a daily live blog and tipping piece.