Moore having the time of his life

There must surely be moments when even the laconic, cool-as-a-cucumber Ryan Moore has to pinch himself to believe just how well his career is going. Long established as one of the very best in the business, there are plenty who now feel that the Ballydoyle No.1 is up with the very best jockeys of all time – and with good reason, writes Paul Alster.

The 41-year-old Brighton-born superstar is not one to blow his own trumpet and seek the headlines the way Frankie Dettori, (the previous top dog of the sport) did for so many star-studded years, but in his own quiet way, saying as little as possible, smiling only occasionally, Moore has become a colossus of the racing world, partnering a stack of big winners for Aidan O’Brien across Britain and Ireland and far beyond. Moore lets his riding do the talking.

What is it that sets a great jockey apart from the very good jockeys? There are plenty of definitions and theories, but my view is that the critical difference between Moore and his contemporaries is that like the greats before him – Frankie Dettori, Pat Eddery, Steve Cauthen, Lester Piggott, Sir Gordon Richards – he simply makes fewer mistakes than his rivals. Moore has that uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, which when combined with tremendous balance and power in the saddle is a devastating winning combination.

Of course, it helps to very often ride the favourite in top races and to be the retained rider for the world’s most powerful stable, but you don’t get to that position without having had to work your way up the ladder and pay your dues along the way. Paid very handsomely for his services and already a very wealthy man, Moore’s insatiable desire to win is what it is all about, something demonstrated time and again as he has turned probable defeat into near-impossible victory, including in recent weeks.

Let’s take just two examples from recent weeks. First, that ride on Jan Breughel in the Group 1 Betfred Coronation Cup at Epsom on June 6. The race seemed destined to go the way of high-class French star Calandagan as he loomed up on the bridle to join the hard-ridden Ballydoyle colt at the furlong pole. Undoubtedly long odds-on in-running as he came to win his race, it seemed a question of ‘How far?’ for Calandagan, but Moore, riding a horse he knows stays well and has plenty of fight in him, conjured a tremendous rally from his mount who got back up in the dying strides to break the French raider’s heart and score by half a length.

In very different fashion, Moore produced a masterclass on Delacroix to win the Group 1 Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown last Saturday. Aboard the only horse in the select six-runner field who had not won a Group 1 race, a horse who had been sent off 2/1 favourite for the Derby five weeks earlier but finished only ninth after meeting trouble early in the race, Moore found himself at the rear of the field with everything seemingly going wrong at a crucial stage. He was denied a run three furlongs out, then received a bump (from stable companion Camille Pisarro) and stumbled two furlongs out, leaving him adrift and last of six in this top-class race.

A split-second decision to pull Delacroix to the outside of the field while still last was the crucial moment as the Dubawi colt took off approaching the furlong pole. He still appeared to have too much ground to make up on Ombudsman, the world’s highest rated racehorse, but Moore would not give up. Producing a perfectly timed run that combined strength and timing, Delacroix surged up the Sandown hill and caught the Godolphin star in the last couple of strides to win by a neck. It was a breathtaking victory.

If ever a race summed up the special ability of Ryan Moore, it was that Eclipse ride on Delacroix. Poetry in motion. Pure class. A rare talent.

Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.