Anthony Patrick Murray was born in
Wantage, Berkshire on 18 February 1950 to jump jockey Paddy Murray. In his school holidays, he used to ride for trainer Captain
Tim Forster. After leaving school, he was apprenticed to trainer
Frenchie Nicholson, a friend of his father's and his first winner was Guardian Oak at
Windsor on 23 May 1966. He rode 14 winners in his first season, rising to 37, 31, 44, 69, 112 and 122 in the following six seasons. In July 1968, he suffered a near-fatal fall riding Windy Breeze at Windsor. He went over the rails - he believed he was put over them deliberately - and broke his jaw in 48 places "like a shattered teacup". He was in hospital for seven weeks. He returned to riding at
Lingfield on 25 September and three days afterwards won the
Royal Lodge Stakes at
Ascot. He rode for
Doug Smith for a short while, before moving on to ride for
Ryan Price. For Price, he won the 1972
Oaks on
Ginevra, a filly whose temperament had led fellow jockey
Lester Piggott to comment that she would one day kill someone. The following year, he would strike up a partnership with
Sandford Lad who became European Champion sprinter after wins in the
Nunthorpe Stakes and
Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. He himself believed the horse would have been even better over further. He went unbeaten throughout the 1973 season on
Giacometti, a horse that is one of only five to have been placed in three
Triple Crown races since the Second World War, although he lost the ride in the last of these to Piggott. In 1975, he won his second and final English classic, the St Leger, on
Bruni. He continued to ride for Price before emigrating to France, where he rode for Charles Millbank at Chantilly, and then to Ireland, where he rode for
Vincent O'Brien, among others. Riding for
Bruce Hobbs, he won the 1980
Irish Derby from the front, on
Tyrnavos, a race that is said to have been his greatest ever ride. He would never win the English version, though he came third on Giacometti, second on
Dickens Hill in 1979, and third on Silver Hawk in 1982. On Dickens Hill, he did win the
Eclipse, and on
Cairn Rouge he won the
Champion Stakes and
Coronation Stakes of 1980. While in Ireland, he narrowly missed out on being 1979
Champion Jockey, finishing on 66 winners behind
Christy Roche's 68. The nearest he got in Britain was also a second place in 1972, when he was runner-up to
Willie Carson. In 1982, he returned to Newmarket to ride for Michael Albina. In August he steered
Horage to victory in the
Gimcrack Stakes. Struggling with his weight, he took what proved to be a short-lived retirement, intending to take up training. Instead, in 1984, he became stable jockey to
Harry Thomson Jones and narrowly missed out on a 1,000 Guineas double on
Al Bahathri in 1985 - being beaten a short head in the
Newmarket race before winning the
Irish version. Al Bahathri also gave him another Coronation Stakes victory. He also rode another winner of the
Gimcrack Stakes that year - Doulab - and took the
Cesarewitch Handicap on Kayudee. He retired again for good in 1986 and became racing manager to owner Tony Budge, whose horses were trained by
Richard Hannon. ==Death==