Jockey Cindy Murphy, who established herself as one of the most successful female riders in racing, has retired. She will continue to work horses for the racing stable operation that she shares with her husband, trainer Travis Murphy.
“People are still going to see me out there in the mornings,” Murphy, 61, said Thursday. “I’ll still help gallop and work horses.”
Cindy Murphy, who previously rode as Cindy Noll, won more than 2,000 races during a career launched in 1987 in Argentina. She hit a milestone of 2,000 Thoroughbred victories on July 7, 2023, at Prairie Meadows, when she guided Crypto Mo to victory in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks.
The milestone was a goal for Murphy, whose final mounts came in October at Remington Park in Oklahoma. She is a resident of the state, where she and her husband have a training facility. Murphy won a total of 2,032 races for more than $24 million in mount earnings during her career, with her Thoroughbred total 2,005 and the other wins coming with Quarter Horses.
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“After I hit the 2,000, I wasn’t going to quit cold turkey,” Murphy said. “I wanted to finish the rest of the Prairie Meadows meet. The very last race of the meet, I won, so that was kind of a cool thing.”
The victory came for trainer Joe Fett and his daughter Brandi, the same connections for which Murphy won the very first race at Prairie Meadows on March 1, 1989.
The Iowa Oaks win was the first graded victory for Murphy.
“Usually, you don’t see your highest points at the very end of your career,” she said. “You couldn’t beat July for me, hitting that 2,000th win with a filly we were co-owners on in the Grade 3 – the biggest stakes I had ever won. And I’d won three in a row – the third one being the big race. We couldn’t have planned it any better.”
Murphy said her husband plans to bring some horses to Oaklawn after the first of the year. The meet started Friday. The Murphys are finishing out the Remington meet that closes Friday, Dec. 15.
Murphy is the all-time leading female rider in wins at Oaklawn with 183 in Hot Springs, Ark., since 1997. She also set a single-season record for wins by a female jockey at Oaklawn in 1999, with 47. Murphy other accomplishments include winning riding titles at Prairie Meadows and Beulah Park.
Murphy’s first wins in the United States came at Tampa Bay Downs in 1987.
“I didn’t grow up in racing,” she said. “I’m a school teacher’s daughter.”
As such, Murphy went to riding school with the goal of becoming a jockey.
“I’ve always loved horses,” she said. “I remember begging my mom to buy me horses. I think I was just born liking horses.”
Murphy has a degree in animal science and could have applied to veterinarian school, but instead went to Argentina to race ride after meeting some folks from there when she was galloping horses at Hialeah. She launched her career at La Plata in Buenos Aires.
Murphy has won races with such noted horses as Coding, Sure Shot Biscuit, Sumthintotalkabout, Chicks Dig Scars, and Fun to Run.
She has three children and five grandchildren and is looking forward to continuing her work of developing young horses with her husband.
“I feel real good and healthy,” she said. “I feel blessed to be as healthy as I am.”
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