The 26-year-old has battled to obtain regular race riding opportunities around South East Queensland in recent years but has quickly gained a foothold in the northern areas at tracks such as Rockhampton and Townsville.
The red hot Ciao Bicky has been a big part of that – winning three on the bounce at Cluden Park – and the gelding aims to make it four on the bounce this Friday afternoon.
The father of a new five-month-old son, Jackson Murphy is relishing travelling north.
After Murphy and his wife welcomed their first son into the world, the jockey has been focusing on fatherhood and his race riding, while opting to take a step back from riding track work around SEQ.
He notes he will eventually get back to riding in the mornings but has found a nice balance in recent months, which has led to more winners in the north.
"Ever since I have started to go up there, I have had a fair bit of success and I have been lucky with the connections I have made," Murphy said.
"It has gone from something that was not going to be a long term thing to something that I have stuck with.
"I get a pick of the rides as well, so I would be silly not to go.
"If anything it has probably rejuvenated my career a little bit as I am going up there and I am one of the top riders whereas down here, I am not looked at that way.
"I am riding with confidence up there and riding winners and have been enjoying it."
Murphy has almost 50 city winners to his name in the Sunshine State – the majority of which came during his days as an apprentice – but his opportunities have dried up in recent years.
He has ridden four Cluden Park winners since the start of last month, with the quartet all prepared by leading local trainer Georgie Holt.
Murphy has three bookings for Holt on Friday as well as two for Liliana Mccormack, who also trains out of Townsville.
Callaghan Park trainer John Wigginton has also been a big supporter of Murphy since he started heading to Rockhampton.
The son of Rubick - Ciao Bicky - has been a revelation since relocating to the north of the state.
After trialling smartly late last year, the gelding had three starts to build into his campaign, improving with each effort, before grabbing his maiden NQ victory in Class 3 grade in late January.
Since then, he is unbeaten in his last two starts to put three in a line.
He goes searching for his fourth consecutive triumph on Friday afternoon in a Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1400 metres.
Murphy has found the winning touch with Ciao Bicky, being his pilot in all three of his Cluden Park victories.
Like the jockey that is riding him, Murphy says Ciao Bicky has found a new lease on life in NQ.
"He is heading the right way to put four on the board," he said.
"He is heading towards a harder race now as his rating has gone up and he is carrying a bit more weight.
"To be fair, he has made mincemeat of most of his rivals up there in the past so I do not see why he would not do that again."
Ciao Bicky will be a month between runs on Friday and is dropping back from a mile to 1400 metres.
He will only need to defeat a small field on Friday after two scratchings.
According to Holt, the stable do not have any specific plans for the gelding going forward and will aim to just target winnable races leading towards the feature events through the winter in NQ.
Murphy is optimistic Ciao Bicky – who is owned by leading Brisbane trainer Steven O'Dea – might be a horse that can be competitive in the rich carnival period later this year.
"I think over carnival, he is a horse that will only get better with most distance," he said.
"Every time he has stepped out over further distances, he has won by further so I think he relishes the slow tempo.
"He is able to sustain that long run when he sprints, so over a bit of distance when there is those staying races, he will be able to show what he can do."
Townsville's Cluden Park will host an eight event program on Friday afternoon.
