Ryan Moore declined to comment in Dubai on speculation that has linked him with a move to join Aidan O’Brien’s powerful Ballydoyle stable in Ireland.
Moore rode The Grey Gatsby into second place in the Dubai Turf, one of the most valuable turf races of the year, and was due to fly to Ireland immediately after the world’s richest meeting to ride four horses for O’Brien at The Curragh on Sunday. Moore was booked for the rides after it emerged on Friday that Joseph O’Brien, the trainer’s son and stable jockey, is “a little heavy” to ride on the Flat at present and will ride instead over hurdles at Limerick the same afternoon.
Moore, who is married and a father, has insisted that he is settled in Newmarket, where he is stable jockey to Sir Michael Stoute. Moore is already established as the main backup rider to Joseph O’Brien when his commitments to Stoute allow, and rode Ruler Of The World to win the Derby for Ballydoyle in 2014 .
Should Joseph O’Brien prove unable to continue in his role as his father’s stable jockey, it is possible that Moore would hope to take on as many of the significant rides at Ballydoyle as possible without moving from his home in Newmarket.
A more pressing question than Moore’s immediate status, however, is just how many pounds O’Brien needs to lose before he can return to his role as Ballydoyle’s main jockey. If he is just a pound or two above his usual weight at this point in the season, he has several weeks in which to lose it before his first significant engagement of the season, aboard his father’s colt Gleneagles in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. If the normal growing process has left another 5lb or 6lb on O’Brien’s 6ft frame over the winter, however, there may be little or nothing that the 21-year-old can do to shed it.
