COLM Murphy has decided to renew his training licence this summer.

The trainer of Brave Inca, Big Zeb and Empire Of Dirt left the training ranks in September 2016 for financial reasons. He worked as a stewards’ secretary for the past 18 months but remained involved in bloodstock behind the scenes.

The success of that breeding and pre-training operation has led to his decision to resume training racehorses for the track.

He explained: “We have been purchasing and building up a quality broodmare band in recent years. We breed to sell and we have come across some very nice types, including the Cheltenham Bumper winner Relegate.

“What we don’t sell we put in training and we have been outsourcing that to others. Now it’s time to change the business model and I will be training some of the well-bred horses.”

Murphy, based in Gorey, Co Wexford, was keen to stress that he is not a private trainer and he hopes to receive horses from other owners, old and new.

“We will be active at the store sales ourselves and I would be delighted to talk to anyone interested in sending me a horse to train. I never left racing and I missed the big days.

“I want to get back to Cheltenham, a place which has been lucky for me in the past.”

Grade 1s

Brave Inca won a remarkable 10 Grade 1 races for Murphy, including the 2004 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the 2006 Champion Hurdle.

He saddled Big Zeb to win the 2010 Queen Mother Champion Chase and five other Grade 1 chases. Empire Of Dirt was another Cheltenham Festival winner for the trainer, and he also enjoyed big-race success with Feathard Lady and Quito De La Roque.

“I plan to apply for my licence in the next few weeks. There is no immediate panic,” he said.

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