When 16-year-old apprentice jockey Connor Murtagh raced to success on his mother’s Symbolic Star at Newcastle last week, the cheers that greeted him in the winners’ enclosure were for more than just a budding titan of the turf.

They hailed a youngster who, on his very first ride in public, had not only defied the odds on the unfancied 25/1 shot but who, just six months earlier, had undergone life-saving heart surgery. It was a joyous moment for the entire racing family Murtagh – trainer dad Barry, mum Sue, Connor and his 18-year-old brother Lorcan – based at Ivegill, Carlisle.

Connor is apprenticed to leading trainer Richard Fahey in Yorkshire but was the obvious choice to ride Symbolic Star.

“Connor knows him well and he’s something of a tricky customer in that he’ll sometimes plant himself in the stalls,” said Sue, who part-owns the five-year-old gelding. “He rode a brilliant race, biding his time at the back of a big field, making his move two furlongs out and putting his head in front where it matters.

“It was a lovely moment. When Lorcan rode his first winner a year ago they were led up by Connor and last week it was Lorcan leading up his brother.

“We were all delighted.”

Connor, a former Caldew School pupil, was born with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot.

“Basically,” says Sue, “Connor had three chambers of his heart rather than the normal four. He had started to go blue all the time and had open heart surgery when he was just 18 months old.

“The Freeman Hospital over in Newcastle has been fantastic. The staff on Ward 23 there has been the same throughout Connor’s life and we can’t thank them enough. After an MRI scan last August we were told the following day to prepare for surgery and this happened quickly. We were told that without the operation Connor would be dead within 12 months.

“So to get his first winner so soon after the event is magical.

“Despite his condition, Connor has always been very sporty. He’s very good at tennis, rugby, football, you name it.”