The Singapore Turf Club has granted a visiting jockey’s licence to South African jockey Callan Murray for the remaining 2019 Singapore season.

After honing his craft at the South African Jockey Academy, Murray has made a meteoric rise through the ranks since taking his first race ride in 2013. He went on to finish second on the apprentice jockey’s log in the 2014/2015 season before clinching both the South African and Zimbabwean title the following season.

Callan Murray (photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Currently licensed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the 22-year-old jockey boasts around 370 winners to-date with the highest accolade being his three individual Grade 1 winners at the Champions Day race meeting at Turffontein on May 6, 2017, namely Deo Juvente in the Premier’s Champions Challenge, Rafeef in the Computaform Sprint and Mustaaqeem in the SA Nursery. One month earlier, he claimed his first Grade 1 victory in the SA Classic aboard Heavenly Blue for Mike de Kock.

Despite being so young, Murray has already ridden overseas in two tough arenas that are Australia and Hong Kong. He rode four winners during a six-week stint with David Hayes in Melbourne in 2017 and rode two Group 3 winners in Hong Kong, Lucky Year in the Sha Tin Vase and Horse Of Fortune in the Premier Plate in the 2016/2017 season.

Murray recently went back to Hong Kong to ride at the current 2018/2019 season. He goes to scale at 53.5kgs