Lord Murphy

{{about|the American racehorse|the Welsh peer and politician|Paul Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen}}

{{Infobox racehorse

| horsename = Lord Murphy

| sire = Pat Malloy

| grandsire = Lexington

| dam = Wenonah

| damsire = Captain Elgee

| sex = Stallion

| foaled = 1876

| country = United States

| colour = Bay

| breeder = J. T. Carter

| owner = 1) George W. Darden & Co.
2) James R. Keene

| trainer = George Rice

| record = 14: 6-5-0

| earnings= $11,400

| race = Belle Meade Stakes (1879)
Kentucky St. Leger Stakes (1879)
January Stakes (1879)
{{pb}}American Classics race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1879)

| awards =

| honours =

| updated=

}}

Lord Murphy (1876 – after 1881) was an American thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Tennessee and is best known for winning the 1879 Kentucky Derby. He was originally named Patmus and was a grandson of Lexington. He descended from the Byerly Turk.{{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/title/Lord%2520Murphy |title=Lord Murphy information |publisher=Everything2.com |date=2002-06-21 |accessdate=2011-12-07}}

The 5th Kentucky Derby was run on a fast track with a field of nine horses, including the notable racer and future leading sire Falsetto. Lord Murphy was knocked almost to his knees by Ada Glenn on the first turn, but managed to pull himself up from 7th to 1st place at the mile marker to win over the fast approaching Falsetto.[http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/derby-charts/1879.pdf Lord Murphy racing stats]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Lord Murphy was bought soon after his Derby win by horseman James R. Keene, who promptly shipped him overseas to the British racing circuit. His arrival was greeted with interest in Britain, as he was "purely American", rather than being bred from relatively recent European exports.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS18800522.2.9&srpos=2&e=-------10--1----2Lord+Murphy-- {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2022}} Lord Murphy did not race well in Britain,NY Times article on trials and tribulations of James R. Keene.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/05/29/104804130.pdf May 29, 1908] being unplaced in the 1880 Chatsworth Handicap Plate at Derby and the 1881 Visitors Plate run at the Craven meeting.{{cite news|last=Staff|title=The turf in England: The Newmarket Craven Meeting Second Day of the Craven Meeting|newspaper=Turf, Field, and Farm|date=April 22, 1881}} He acquired a "savage" temper{{cite news|last=Farfadet|title=English Turf and Horse Gossip: Doncaster September Meeting, 1883|newspaper=Turf, Field, and Farm|date=November 24, 1883}} and became a "roarer", an ailment that Keene thought developed secondary to the change in weather between the United States and England.{{cite news|last=Staff|title=The American victory in the English Derby|newspaper=Turf, Field, and Farm|date=June 10, 1881}} Keene sold Lord Murphy to Richard Ten Broeck in May 1881.{{cite news|last=Staff|title=Latest foreign news: Leading Events and Topics Abroad|newspaper=The Sun|date=May 31, 1881}} He was later sold at a British public auction in Newmarket on July 6, 1881, the horse fetching a small sum of 10 guineas ($50).{{cite news|last=Duncan|first=John|title=Livestock and turf: Splinters from Hoof and Horn at Home and Abroad|newspaper=Courier-Journal|date=July 20, 1881}}"When The Bloom Is Off The Roses", Sports Illustrated, April 28, 1980.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081013232638/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1123400/index.htm]