Hi guys!
Today’s post is something a little different to my usual horse racing posts, however I thought it would be an interesting one. On social media Ryan Moore is a highly debated person within racing, some people love him, some people hate him – a little bit like Marmite. So I thought today we would just stay neutral and go through some of the facts and figures of Ryan’s career. I found it very interesting looking through different articles and figures and I though why not share with my audience. So today we will simply look at Ryan Moore as a whole, his life, career and more importantly his stats!
Disclaimer: The facts, figures and stats are all from different sources online and I have simply compiled them altogether into one post, I have tried to use multiple sources to ensure all facts are as accurate as possible. I apologise if anything is incorrect. Please feel free to tweet me anything that may be incorrect so I can change it. At the time of writing this post 27/09/20 all of the figures are accurate according to my online sources used. So with that being said… Let’s jump right into it.
Ryan Lee Moore was born on the 18th of September 1983, making him currently 37 years old. Ryan was born into a horse racing family, his grandad Charlie Moore was a well known trainer, his dad is ex jockey and now trainer Gary Moore, he has two jump jockey brothers Jamie and Joshua and his sister Hayley Moore was a top amateur now TV pundit, so overall I would say Ryan being involved in the sport was just meant to be.
Ryan Moore starting riding horses at just 4 years old, he had lessons at his Grandad’s yard and with a pony club. And when he was 12 years old he led National Hunt jockey AP McCoy over hurdles as they schooled some of Ryan’s fathers horses. Ryan later said he was inspired by his drive and dedication stating:
He wanted to ride everything in the yard. His work ethic was huge.
Ryan didn’t always know he wanted to be a jockey, as he very much enjoyed his football and he did in fact have trials for Brighton and Hove Albion as a youngster. However, being a jockey was the direction Ryan went in and he has not looked back since.
Ryan Moore had his first winner at just 16 years old on a horse called Mersey Beat on the 15th May 2000 at Towcester over hurdles for his dad Gary Moore. At this point his mom actually tried to convince Ryan to stay in school and focus on his A-Levels however after just one month of doing his A-Levels he decided to leave and focus on his riding. Ryan also rode a couple of winners for his grandad before he passed away in 2000.
In 2003 Ryan became the British Flat Racing Champion Apprentice before winning his first group race in 2004 on the 29th of August when he won the Group 3 Prestige Stakes at Goodwood, followed by a Group 2 in the September in the Mill Reef Stakes on Galleota for Richard Hannon.
In 2006 Ryan then rode his first Group 1 winner in the Juddmonte International at York on Notnowcato for Sir Michael Stoute, this was the year he then first became the British Flat Racing Champion Jockey.
The following year, in 2007, Ryan rode Notnowcato to victory in the Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland and then in the Eclipse. During 2007 Ryan rode more winners for Sir Michael Stoute (47 out of his 126) over his then mentor Richard Hannon (33 out of his 126). However Ryan spent 3 months injured so he never retained his jockey championship, instead finishing 3rd. At the end of 2007 Ryan was then offered the position of stable jockey for Sir Michael Stoute.
In 2008 Ryan retained the jockey’s championship and kept it in 2009 also. Over the course of 2009 and 2010 Ryan travelled the world riding in the big races. He won the Breeders Cup, then he won the Derby on Workforce – in a record time – and the Oaks on consecutive days. He then won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Workforce. He later broke his wrist costing him the chance of another jockey championship. However most involved with the sport were already calling him an ‘all-time great’ including former jockey Willie Carson who said he could be as good as Lester Piggott.
In 2011 Ryan’s vision changed. Instead of wanting to retain his jockey championship he wanted to concentrate on fewer bigger races instead so he could focus on his family. At this time he started riding for many celebrity owners including Michael Owen, Paul Scholes, Ashley Cold and Sir Alex Ferguson. He also rode Carlton House to victory in the Dante Stakes at York and 3rd in the Epsom Derby for the Queen. He then finished 2011 by winning on Snow Fairy in a Japanese Grade 1.
It was around November 2011 when rumours starting circulating that Ryan Moore was being lined up to join Aidan O’Brien as his stable jockey. However Ryan didn’t want to move his family from England to Ireland so it was instead agreed that Ryan would stay in England and ride for Aidan O’Brien in Ireland at major meetings. Following this decision, in 2012 Ryan won the 1,000 Guineas on Homecoming Queen and the 2013 Derby on Ruler Of The World for Aidan O’Brien.
In 2015, Joseph O’Brien who was the Ballydoyle number 1 jockey ahead of Ryan was struggling to make the weight to ride in major races, so therefore in the April it was confirmed that Ryan would now ride all the number one horses in Classics and any other major races. By the end of 2017 Ryan had won over 2000 races in Britain.
Now lets talk statistics, races and records.
Firstly, Ryan’s major wins in the 20 years he has been riding. He has won the 2,000 Guineas twice (2015 & 2017), the 1,000 Guineas four times (2012, 2015, 2016 & 2020), the Epsom Derby twice (2010 & 2013), the Epsom Oaks three times (2010, 2016 & 2020), the St Leger Stakes twice (2017 & 2018), the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes twice (2009 & 2016), the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe twice (2010 & 2016), the Japan Cup once (2013), the Melbourne Cup once (2014) and the Breeders Cup Turf four times (2008, 2009, 2013 & 2015).
At the point of me writing this (27th of September) Ryan has had 2701 winners, including 136 Groups 1’s, 118 Group 2’s, 165 Group 3’s and 170 listed races. He has also placed in 4042 races, including 229 Group 1’s, 173 Group 2’s, 233 Group 3’s and 248 listed races. These are out of 15553 starts, 890 Group 1’s, 643 Group 2’s, 849 Group 3’s and 896 listed races.
So let’s put all of those figures into perspective. Essentially Ryan has won 15.28% of the 890 Group One races he’s started in and he has placed in 25.73% of those 890 starts. Overall meaning he has at least placed or won 41.01% of the 890 Group One races he has started in. So looking at his figures as a whole, Ryan has won 17.37% of the 15553 starts he has had in his career, he has placed in 25.99% of those 15553 starts meaning overall, in the whole of his career he has won or placed in 43.36% of the 15553 starts he has had.
I have searched high and low for an accurate figure of how much Ryan Moore has won in prize money from the beginning of his career until now and the most highly shared is that of $282,026,720 which with today’s exchange rate is the equivalent to £221,284,228.09 over a 20 year period.
Another interesting thing I have found is the winners Ryan has had per trainer he has rode for. Ryan Moore has rode in 2637 races and won 572 of those and placed in 773 for Sir Michael Stoute. Of which 21 were Group One’s, 37 Groups Two’s, 60 Group Three’s and 45 Listed Races. Winning $40,825,902 / £32,032,880.47 in prize money.
In second place is Richard Hannon, where Ryan has rode in 2202 races for Richard Hannon where has won 306 and placed in 528. Of which, only one was a Group One, 7 Group Two’s, 8 Group Three’s and 16 Listed Races. In total he has won $8,472,916 / £6,648,032.06 in prize money for Richard Hannon.
Then comes in Aidan O’Brien in third place, where Ryan has rode in 1186 races and won 271 and placed in 343. However interestingly, maybe, probably predictably, Ryan has won the most amount of money for Aidan totalling $97,425,309 / £76,441,992.09 with a total of 83 Group One wins for Aidan O’Brien, 44 Group Two wins, 53 Group Three wins and 39 Listed Races.
Another interesting set of stats is the Group One races Ryan has won around the world. So number one on the list is Great Britain where he has won 58 Group One’s, Ireland is next with 21, followed closely by France with 18. Next up is USA with 13, Japan with 8, Hong Kong with 6, Canada with 4, UAE with 3, Australia (Victoria) also with 3, Germany and Italy both with 1 and then the three places he has rode in but hasn’t won a Group One is Australia (New South Wales) where he has placed once in seven Group One’s, Singapore where he has placed once in two Group One’s and South Africa where he placed in the one Group One he has had there.
Something I found interesting and wanted to just add in was the horses Ryan has had the most wins on. First up on the list is Galeota who Ryan rode 18 times, won 8 times and placed twice. Secondly is Mostarsil who Ryan rode 21 times, won 8 times and placed twice. Third is Order Of St George who Ryan rode 12 times, won 7 times and placed 3 times.
Following on from that I do want to look at his wins as a percentage. First in that order is Crystal Ocean who Ryan rode 7 times and won 6 times (85.71%) and placed once. Next is Minding who Ryan rode 9 times and won 7 times (77.78%) and placed twice. And third is Envision who Ryan Rode 9 times and won 6 times (66.67%) and placed one.
I have tried to keep this post as neutral as I possibly can using statistics alone to show who Ryan Moore is and how his facts and figures line up. However now I will give a little bit of my opinion and I would love to hear yours over on social media! I think the stats don’t lie, Ryan Moore is a brilliant jockey. I think over the years his priorities have changed – as they would with anyone – due to his children growing up and him wanting to focus on them, however his work ethic is still one of the top in the game. He rides winners for fun and has done for many years and I know many people say “it’s because of the horses he rides” but you can say that about anyone. It isn’t Ryan’s fault that he is given a leg up on some of the best horses around. Apart from the fact Ryan loses whenever I bet on him or put him in my pick 7, I can’t fault him. He is a brilliant jockey, who sometimes gets into a bad position that he can’t get out of – which jockey doesn’t though? Ryan may not be a people person and we all know that from when he’s been interviewed over the years, but there is no doubt about it he is very much a horse person and I love watching him.
Today’s post was a little different for me but I thoroughly enjoyed doing the research into this and I really hope my audience enjoy it. I have a few posts lined up over the next few weeks including more of my Horse Racing History series as well as more posts similar to this where we break down the facts and figures for different jockey’s, flat and National Hunt as well as a stable visit to one of the best National Hunt trainers in the country and a point to point yard where horses are broken in for some of the biggest trainers around so we can have an in depth look at how that is done, which I am super excited for. You can now subscribe to my page to ensure you receive an email every time I post, to do this simple press the ‘Follow zoelouisesmithx.com’ button on the right hand sidebar to this post.
See you all very soon in my next post!
zoelouisesmithx 