“I scare them off,” Ryan Moore says with a ghostly smile on a Friday evening in an empty bar in Newmarket. The most successful jockey in British racing pauses to consider his spiky persona – for Moore is a notoriously difficult interviewee who enjoys peddling a dry line of blunt answers.
He has been very different today. It doesn’t even matter that he was stuck in traffic for four hours this afternoon, having met the Queen at lunchtime in his role as the monarch’s favourite jockey. Moore has spent 40 minutes talking freely to me about racing winners around the world, reading books, why Air Force Blue, whom he rides in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on Saturday gives him “an electric feeling”, Arsenal, his family, loathing the Racing Post and the fact he would regard himself as “a disappointment” if he became a trainer. He is now ready to assess his caricature as a miserable old sod who rides horses like a magician.
“At the races it doesn’t suit me to do interviews,” Moore says. “I’m focused on work. I understand [racing correspondents] have a job to do and, on TV, they need to fill the time but it’s boring, repetitive stuff. Every time I end up saying: ‘Yeah, the horse was really brave and did a great job. The lads have done a great job.’ I know people are happy to hear that sort of thing but … ”
Moore cackles to affirm that he does not belong to this happy group. Knowing he admires Alexis Sánchez’s zeal for football, I wonder if he would be interested in learning more about the Chilean as a person. Moore nods. “During players’ interviews after matches you know what they’re going to say. The managers’ interviews are more interesting later in the week. On the day they’re going to blame the ref. But, yeah, when they have features on players in the papers I read them.”
The jockey immerses himself more deeply in books – in a revelation that might stun those who see him as an obsessive who cares about little beyond riding racehorses faster than anyone on earth. “I love reading sports books, and biographies. The last one I really enjoyed, and it’s a bit old now but I was reading it while I was in Hong Kong, was Andre Agassi’s Open. That was fascinating.”
Open strips bare Agassi’s demons. It conveys his often searing disdain for tennis and so does not chime with Moore’s passion for racing. “No. I only hate the wasting. But it was so interesting. I read another lovely book recently – The Sports Gene by David Epstein. I’m interested in the way he talks about chess players. I like hearing about how certain people got to where they are in sport. It’s fascinating to see their mindset.”
Has he read Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand’s evocative retelling of a great American horse racing story? “I don’t read many racing books. I read some boxing books. I’m reading the Mayweather book now but it’s heavy going.”
Boxing is similar to racing, with its themes of wasting, money, fame and a sometimes seedy glory. “Yeah,” Moore says, “and lack of education. Plenty of people have done OK as riders but once they retire it becomes difficult. You just need to walk into Newmarket to see a couple of lads who used to ride and they’re propping up the bar. They made a little money but they spent it on cars and girlfriends. It’s sad. Luckily the Jockeys Association can help and young riders are better educated now than 20 years ago.”
Moore’s face shines with a sharp intelligence. “I wish I had done my A levels,” he says. “My mum wanted me to stay on at school … but it’s worked out.”
Moore has won every major prize in racing – from the Derby, Oaks, Guineas and King George here to the Arc, the Melbourne Cup and races at the Breeders’ Cup and across Ireland, Europe and Asia. In the last year he has won 18 Group Ones around the world.
“There are sacrifices,” the 32-year-old says. “It’s not easy with a young family – Toby is seven, Sophie is five and Jessica is two – but the longest I’d be away is six weeks. It’s harder on Michelle [his wife] than me. The way I see it is that, in Newmarket, you’ve got lots of Indian and Pakistani lads. They work hard and send money to their families and maybe only get home every two years. So I’m not complaining. When opportunities come up you have to take them.”
Moore will travel across the globe for a single race if the horse is good enough. “[Last] week I went to Hong Kong for the day. You try to sleep on the plane. Once you’re there the adrenaline kicks in and you perform for a couple of minutes. I’m in good shape. I thought last year was going to be a very good year. It was going OK, then I got injured but it ended up fine.”
Moore did “OK” at Royal Ascot last summer – setting a modern-day record of riding nine winners in the first four days. But, 10 months later, he is still frustrated he didn’t pick up a winner on the final day. “I wouldn’t look back on Ascot and think it was great. There were disappointments and you always want to finish on a high. But, in racing, you get beat every half-hour. You have to stay level-headed whether it’s a win or a loss.”
I’ve interviewed a few great jockeys before and their contrasting motivations have been striking. Lester Piggott liked money. AP McCoy stressed his addictive need for winners. Frankie Dettori revelled in the glory. What drives Moore? “I just enjoy race riding. I like riding nice races and doing what’s right by the horse. Sometimes you have to win ugly – but I ride as well as I can. I’ve always enjoyed riding the best horses in the biggest races.”
Piggott told me Moore was the best jockey in the world because his horses “look happy to have Ryan on their back. He relaxes them, and steers them.”
Moore nods. “It’s that simple. It’s getting from A to B as economically as you can. You try and give your horse a smooth trip. I have a lot of experience now and it helps to have a few different techniques. When you’re young you just go out and ride and it’s natural. Then you start to think about it a little bit more. But, when you get to where I am now, it’s very instinctive again.”
When I last interviewed Moore, 10 years ago, he harboured an ambition to ride 300 winners in a season. “I remember talking about it with my agent and thinking I could quite easily achieve that if I set my mind to it. That would have been before I started riding for Michael [Stoute]. I need to credit him with pretty much all my success. Michael moulded me. He didn’t want me killing myself every day. It was important I was fresh on a Saturday. A few times Michael rang my agent and said: ‘Back off a little – he doesn’t need to be going there.’ He was managing me. You can ride winners every day. I could’ve gone to Bath or Wolverhampton tonight and kept ticking off the winners. But Michael taught me that the big ones count.”
Moore is reticent only when asked about his move last year to become the principal jockey for Aidan O’Brien. Riding for the dominant Irish trainer has curtailed his work with Stoute. “Michael’s understanding but I’d rather not go into it. He’s a lovely man who did a hell of a lot for me.”
Riding for O’Brien last year meant Moore did the Guineas double for the first time – winning the 1,000 on Legatissimo and the 2,000 on Gleneagles. This weekend his chances of repeat success with O’Brien are so good that, especially in Saturday’s Qipco 2,000 Guineas, it seems he just has to climb aboard the favourite, Air Force Blue, to bag another Classic at Newmarket. “In horse racing anything can happen. But he is very good.”
The relish in Moore’s voice when he says “very good” confirms the brilliance of Air Force Blue. “He gave me an electric feeling when he picked up in the Dewhurst. You could feel the power of him underneath you – and the acceleration.”
Could Air Force Blue become one of the greats? “We hope so. He gave me every indication last year he was a great colt. At two he won three Group Ones on the spin. Not many two-year-olds do that. I also like Minding [in Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas]. As a two‑year‑old filly it’s hard to think of a better one I’ve sat on.”
Moore is more at ease these days when expressing his love of racing. He is also amused when holding a miniature Eddie Stobart toy truck, which has “Ryan Moore” emblazoned across it. Moore has seen motorway trucks with the names of other jockeys written across their sides – for Stobart sponsor the jockeys’ championship – but his son will receive the toy. “Frankie’s his favourite jockey,” Moore says wryly.
He remains uncompromising when remembering those who have crossed him. He was injured for three months last summer but he has not forgiven the Racing Post for suggesting – wrongly – he would be out for the whole year. “I got a winner on my second day,” Moore says of his comeback last September. “The first day I only rode one – just to piss off the Racing Post. They got on my tits. They caused me big problems because I had commitments in Japan and Hong Kong and I had phone calls saying: ‘We’re going to book someone else because you’re out all year.’”
Moore had a storming last three months of 2015 and I wonder how he will cope when he can no longer ride racehorses. “I went to see Hughesie [Richard Hughes, the former champion jockey] this morning. He’s enjoying training but I would hate to be a trainer. That’s why I’ll keep riding as long as I’m doing the job well. I would be very disappointed if I became a trainer.”
Yet Moore’s dad, Gary, is a respected National Hunt trainer who has won some big races. “My dad’s done well. But I’ve rode for the best and I’d only want to do it at their level. I have so much respect for Richard Hannon, Michael and Aidan. Could I match them? No chance.”
Moore would not settle for being a mediocre trainer and so, “the future is something I’ve thought about. You have to be organised, to have something else to move on to. You can’t sit around because you’ll end up in no-man’s land. But I wouldn’t be the sort of person who would go out and destroy myself. I don’t know what it is yet but I’ll have a plan.”
He is unlikely to follow McCoy into media work. “No fucking chance. I’m no good at it anyway. I doubt they’d want me on telly.”
Perhaps Moore should write a book once he’s finished riding. “I’m not a very good writer,” he grimaces. “Who would read it?”
The great jockey will stick to riding and reading. “My ambition is to continue riding as well as I can. I want to keep learning and improving. It’s simple stuff – but it’s interesting. That’s what matters in the end.”
