Michael Murphy rides first city winner

Trainer Chris Munce has called on his experience to guide his apprentice Michael Murphy to his first metropolitan win at Eagle Farm.

Murphy rode Shapin Lady ($11) to win Wednesday’s Benchmark 75 (1000m).

“I won two races on Shapin Lady as a jockey before I took over training her. I was able to give Michael the right way to ride her,” Munce said.

“I have big wraps on Michael and I think he can go a long way.”

It was Murphy’s fourth ride on his first day in the metropolitan area.

“Chris told me all week she could win so I got down to ride her at 51 kilos,” Murphy said.

“Of course it is a great thrill to ride my first winner in the city,.

The 19-year-old has been riding for about 18 months and Shapin Lady was his 50th winner in the past 12 months.

Brisbane Race Club chairman Neville Bell had to wait an extra five minutes before he could celebrate the win of Up the Tempo in a maiden.

Up the Tempo ($3.80) held by a long head to Order Again ($5) whose jockey Larry Cassidy looked at the head on film before deciding not to protest.

“It hasn’t been a great week with the power problems on Melbourne Cup day, the discussion on moving the Doomben 10,000 and then the fire alarm going off before the race,” Bell said.

“But at last I have something to cheer about.”

Trainer Barry Lockwood hopes he has something to cheer about with talented but injury-prone mare Tumbler,an impressive winner of the Class 3 Plate (1000m).

Tumbler has been restricted to five starts which have brought four wins and a second and Lockwood has his fingers crossed she can step up to a stakes race.

“The problem has been she has won a race and then got hurt,” he said.

“She has broken a pelvis, fractured a hind splint bone, injured a suspensory ligament and last time did a tendon in a hind leg,.”