Geoff Murphy

(1926 - 1993) - Inducted in 2005

Geoff Murphy took out his trainer's licence in 1960 after spending 12 years as foreman for Basil Conaghan.
 
Murphy soon made his mark with wins in the Australian Cup in 1962 and 1963 by Welkin Prince. A win in the 1961 AJC Derby narrowly eluded him when his winning horse, Blue Era, was disqualified because of jockey, Mel Schumacher's ‘leg pulling' tactics.

Murphy's career blossomed in the next two decades as he won numerous feature races throughout Australia. Among his tally were five Caulfield Guineas, two One Thousand Guineas, five C.F. Orr Stakes, three Rosehill Guineas, two Queensland Derbies, the Metropolitan, Doomben 10,000, Adelaide Cup, Blue Diamond Stakes, WATC Railway Stakes and Fruit ‘N Veg Stakes, and the Hobart Cup. In 1976-77, he won the Victorian metropolitan trainers' premiership.

Murphy's eye for a successful sire paid dividends with the progeny of Sovereign Edition, Rangong, and Sir Tristram. The Sovereign Edition filly, Surround, won 17 of her 28 starts, including the VRC, AJC and QTC Oaks, and is the only three-year-old filly to win the W.S. Cox Plate. Murphy won another Cox Plate with Abdul, the 1982 Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double with Gurner's Lane, and Victoria Derbies with Sovereign Red and Grosvenor.

Murphy was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

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