Murray, Breeder of City Band, Loved the Horse Life

New York-based owner/breeder Dr. Thomas Murray, M.D., who viewed Saratoga Race Course as heaven on earth, died March 8. He was 82.

An obstetrician based in Duchess County, N.Y., Murray is the breeder of grade 1 winner City Band  and he campaigned her dam, stakes winner Wedding Band. Murray also is the co-breeder, with Charles M. Boone, of multiple graded stakes winner Feasibility Study, who finished a close second to Clear Mandate in the 1997 Three Chimneys Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

With his brother Vincent, Murray campaigned 2008 Montauk Handicap winner Here Comes Rita , a daughter of Raffie's Majesty—Sweet Rita, by Rubiano, bred by Murray. Murray also campaigned Sweet Rita, an allowance winner at Philadelphia Park.

The family noted Murray and his brother included "Rita" in the names of many of their horses—a reference to their mother and a number of other "Ritas" in the family.

The family is planning a memorial service at Saratoga this August. The family noted how much horses meant to Murray.

"Tommy might appreciate being best known for his passion for horses and horse racing," his obituary noted. "Always generous with advice and enthusiasm, he taught many how to enjoy themselves at the racetrack. Saratoga was his heaven on earth, and he loved to spend time on the backstretch with all of his many friends, trainers, and jockeys. In addition to being a talented handicapper, Tommy and his brother Vincent proudly bred and raced a number of graded stakes-winning Thoroughbreds."

Murray is survived by children Tom Jr., Mary Patricia, and Colin Henry.

Colin Murray worked with family members to write the following tribute to his father's love of racing:

The context for his passion for racing is that my grandfather (Mathew J. Murray) had a large stable in NY in the 1960s. Dad and his four brothers all attended Georgetown, so of course Murray Stables raced in dark blue with a gray Jesuit cross. Dad and Vincent carried that tradition forward.

Dad's very first winner was Speedometer at Suffolk Downs (Trained by Vinnie Blengs).

Most of the early days were syndicates with friends and buddies from Georgetown. He was one of the early syndicators, and I recall him co-presenting on syndication with Cot Campbell at a seminar in Saratoga.

He relied greatly on Nick de Meric to help him identify value in 2-year olds in training at the OBS sales—all became winners. The most prominent was Wedding Band (Mighty Appealing—Ring of Steel, by Assagai), who won the 1989 Cameo Stakes at Laurel Park. She would later produce City Band (by Carson City), who won the 1996 Oak Leaf Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

Dad was mostly racing Florida-breds at Laurel in the early days, trained by Vinnie Blengs and almost always ridden by Edgar Prado. Edgar started riding for my dad at Laurel long before he became a top jockey. I will never forget Vinnie's instructions to Edgar before the Cameo. He pointed to his assistant trainer Eddie who was a big, heavy guy and told Edgar, "Eddie could win riding this one." My Dad loved it. He also loved Edgar and believed he was the best of all time.

Dad's early broodmares stayed at Boonesborough Farm in Lexington (Charles M. and Lois Boone) after their racing careers. In addition to City Band, he bred Feasibility Study who was a multiple graded stakes winner and who ran second in the Spinster.

Over time, my father and his brother Vincent began breeding and racing in New York for convenience and also because they loved the New York breeding program. They used trainer Scott Lake in Pennsylvania and Bruce Johnstone and John Morrison in New York. 

He bred and raced Here Comes Rita who won the Montauk States at Aqueduct. Here Comes Rita was out of Sweet Rita, who he raced.

Almost all of the fillies had "Rita" in their name, named after Dad's and Vincent's mother, Rita, and about six other Ritas in the extended family. Dad and Vincent also bred and raced Here Comes Tommy (also out of Sweet Rita) who was the definition of a "poor man's horse," hitting the board 30 of 63 times and winning over $400,000.

Dad was also a prolific better, having won multiple Pick 6s of sizable amounts over the years. When his horse was in the lead he would belt out: "Stop the race!"

He loved the races and, most of all, the personalities. His "perfect day" was morning workouts at Saratoga, breakfast at the track kitchen or the Reading Room, races all day, and then the Fasig-Tipton sales, only to get home ASAP and begin "doping" (as he would say) the Racing Form.

One of my favorite stories was when he was testifying as an expert witness in a jury trial and the opposing lawyer asked him on cross-examination: "Dr. Murray, isn't it true that the very first thing you think about when you wake up every morning is your horses?" Thinking she had him on the ropes, Dad proudly and enthusiastically responded "YES!" and the jury of course chuckled and loved him.

Of course, we have many more similar stories, and we plan to have a memorial ceremony for him in August at Saratoga, which was his heaven on earth, so that people can share their memories. He loved Del Mar too, and was good friends with Joe Harper. I think it's the real reason why he wanted me to move to San Diego.

His proudest moment of me as a father had nothing to do with any accomplishments, but instead happened when I was taking a vocabulary exam in high school, and I defined the word "maiden" as "a horse which has never won a race." The teacher thought I was being a wise guy and marked the answer incorrect, and at my father's urging I appealed, and the appeal was sustained. He loved it!

  

One final story that my father just loved: He was walking out of Suffolk Downs one day after a Speedometer race and a random degenerate gambler came up to him and asked: "Do you want to split a $2 dollar exacta?" My Dad responded, "which horse?" and the guy responded "it doesn't matter!"