Oisin Murphy 5x Champion Jockey on Alcoholism, Sacrifice & the Price of Greatness

Oisin Murphy is one of the most successful jockeys of his generation, a x5 Champion Jockey whose career has been defined by brilliance, pressure, relapse, recovery and an unrelenting pursuit of winning. In this episode of Performance People, Oisin speaks with rare honesty about the reality behind elite success. He reflects on the horse that changed everything for him, Roaring Lion, and explains why winning major titles has never brought the sense of fulfilment people assume it should. He opens up about the mental strain of race riding, his obsession with strike rate, the exhausting demands of making weight, and the psychological cost of constantly trying to stay at the top. Most strikingly, Oisin talks candidly about alcohol, blackout drinking, sobriety and the damage addiction caused in both his personal and professional life. He explains why his 2025 comeback title mattered so much, how he felt people had had enough of him, and why proving people wrong became part of the fuel behind that season. Oisin's book: Sacrifice: A Year in the Life of a Champion Jockey - available now Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:58 Why 2018 Changed Everything 01:23 Roaring Lion and the Horse That Made Him 08:24 Why the Book Is Called Sacrifice 10:51 The Reality of Riding 1,000 Horses a Year 13:45 Why Being a Jockey Is So Unforgiving 15:49 The Obsession With Strike Rate 18:21 Alcohol, Blackouts and Hitting Rock Bottom 23:52 How He’s Approaching Sobriety Differently 27:16 Why Sobriety Made Him a Better Rider 30:03 Why He’s Already Thinking About Retirement 39:36 Why Winning the Champion Jockey Title Brings No Joy 42:10 The 2025 Comeback Title and Proving People Wrong 53:54 The One Race He Still Dreams of Winning ________________________________ The Performance People podcast, in partnership with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, talks to high-performers in the world of sport and beyond, to bring defining moments, hard-earned insights and expert advice to everyday performance. New episodes every Tuesday. ________________________________ ainslie + ainslie NIGHT POWDER, winner of Best Sleep Supplement in the GQ Sleep Awards 2025. We love performance, which is why we’ve launched ainslie + ainslie – the first supplement brand to be developed inside elite sport. Now available for everyone. Find out more at ________________________________ Connect with Performance People Hit

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Oisin Murphy 5x Champion Jockey on Alcoholism, Sacrifice & the Price of Greatness is an episode from Performance People by Georgie Ainslie.

This episode is 1:04:57 long.

This episode was published on Mar 10, 2026.

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