Jockey Ryan Moore on art of staying ahead (and his love for Arsenal)

‘Go to racing for the horses. They are the athletes. I am just the driver’: Jockey Ryan Moore on the art of staying ahead, his ‘boring s***’ diet and love for Arsenal

• Ryan Moore is operating at peak of his powers after another golden summer
• He is the No 1 jockey for Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering Ballydoyle stable
• The 39-year-old has enjoyed success with Paddington and Auguste Rodin 

Ryan Moore narrows his eyes as he hears the start of the first question. The world’s best jockey rarely sits down for interviews and certainly doesn’t get stimulated by obvious topics, so he is momentarily suspicious when asked for his thoughts on the big race.

Quickly, though, he is laughing when he realises the big race is actually the one involving Arsenal and Manchester City.

Moore is an Arsenal devotee, his love for the club stemming from the days he would be taken to Highbury as a teenager to watch Arsene Wenger’s all-conquering side. This weekend he has high hopes Mikel Arteta’s squad will take their first step towards a first title in 20 years.

‘I was born in Brighton and we used to go to the Goldstone for every midweek game,’ he says. ‘Then they lost their ground, started playing their games in Gillingham. My nan was from Islington and she would always be listening to the radio on a Saturday lunchtime, cheering on the Arsenal.

‘That’s when I started being taken to Highbury. What a treat. You were seeing Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira; Thierry Henry, running at what seemed like 100mph and jumping 10 feet in the air. It was special. What a great time it was to be watching them. I don’t go as much now as I should.

Jockey Ryan Moore, a father of four, is 39 and operating at the peak of his powers

Moore is an Arsenal devotee, stemming from the days he would visit Highbury for a glimpse of Arsene Wenger’s side

Moore is a raconteur with a dry sense of humour, speaks with fierce passion on his love for horses and provides a candid insight into the psychology of an elite sportsman

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It’s your definitive guide to all the weekend’s action and this week includes interviews with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Geoff Shreeves and Simon Jordan.

‘I’ll get a season ticket one day with my son, Toby. He loves Bukayo Saka. Everyone loves him, don’t they? Me? I like Martin Odegaard. He’s a magician, so quick with his feet. It’s the way he reads the game. They are a good bunch of young lads, aren’t they?’

To use an analogy from the sport he dominates, he is now settled, off and running.

Over the next hour, during our meeting at Newmarket’s plush Bedford Lodge Hotel, Moore will open up like never before; he is a raconteur with a dry sense of humour, speaks with fierce passion on his love for horses and provides a candid insight into the psychology of an elite sportsman.

Moore, a father of four, is 39 and operating at the peak of his powers. This has been a golden summer for him, enriched by partnerships with the magnificent three-year-old colts Paddington and Auguste Rodin, and the potential for further success in 2023 is limitless.

This is because he is the No 1 jockey for Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering Ballydoyle stable and is entrusted with riding some of the most beautifully bred horses on the planet, who run quickly and relentlessly — remarks, neatly, that describe Moore’s own training regime.

‘Well, this morning I did seven miles,’ he says, in between sips of sparkling water. Nothing unusual, you might think. You’ll change your mind when you hear the time.

‘Today? It was 43 minutes, something like that,’ Moore states.

For seven miles?

‘Yeah, just over six-minute mile pace,’ he continues, a twinkle quickly appearing in his eyes. ‘And it was uphill! Look, I’m lucky. You adapt over the years. Would I do a marathon? No chance. I’ve no interest in that.

Moore admitted that his son’s favourite player from the current crop of stars is Bukayo Saka

Moore has enjoyed success with the magnificent colts Paddington and Auguste Rodin

The jockey admitted that al his work on his fitness is to keep the body weight ‘stable’

‘I’m strong, I’m fit and riding a horse doesn’t tire me, really. Everything I do is just to keep the weight stable. We don’t have to be athletes. People have got carried away over the last couple of years, trying to promote us as athletes.

‘To me, an athlete is someone preparing for the Olympic Games or a Premier League footballer. I wouldn’t say (England wicketkeeper) Jonny Bairstow sees himself as an athlete. We have a skill set and we have to make weight.

‘I used to do a bit of boxing or high intensity work. Now I just find myself running further, churning it out. I’ve got a pool and I swim a lot too because, well, swimming is easy! There’s a difference between a sportsman and an athlete.

‘The horse is the athlete in my job. The first thing, all the time, is about them. That’s the beauty of this sport, seeing these magnificent animals and what they can do. It’s about getting people to go racing, letting them see with their own eyes those incredible athletes. I’m just the driver.’

Perhaps, but the driver is required to stay in optimum condition at all times and this leads to a discussion about eating habits. Moore, who doesn’t drink, may think it is mundane but the fine details show why, as he approaches 40, his performance has never been better.

‘You will never out-train your diet — never,’ he stresses. ‘It is so important. I don’t do anything special. I eat a lot of fish, chicken, steak; a lot of vegetables. It’s boring s***. Sometimes I’ll eat the wrong thing — too many sweets, wine gums, nothing exciting! — but I eat a lot of fruit.

‘I rarely eat bread, maybe once or twice a week. Diet Coke? No way. All the nutritionists will tell you the same thing: don’t touch it. You are better on full fat yogurts and whole foods. I don’t touch diet stuff. Basically, with food, if you can kill it or grow it, it’s OK. If you can’t, leave it.’

He goes on to explain how on those weekends when he is required to ride in the United States on a Saturday night before returning to Ireland or France for top-level action the following day, discipline must be exercised at all times.

Moore’s dedication to his diet perhaps highlight how the finer details can make a big difference

Moore has recorded 182 Group One wins in 11 countries, including three Ascot Gold Cups

‘You don’t eat on the plane,’ says Moore, who rides Unquestionable for O’Brien in Saturday’s Group One Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. ‘You can’t have sleeping pills, if you get tested at the course you are done. You don’t want to be drinking too much, either, as that can upset your rhythm as well.

‘Can I sightsee? No chance! There’s no time! I was in Sydney for a couple of days in March. I stayed opposite the Opera House. I walked around it one day and went to the Botanical Gardens, too. But that’s about as much as I have ever done. You are there to do a job.’

Racing was always going to be a vocation for Moore, whose grandfather, Charlie, trained in Brighton. His father, Gary, was a National Hunt jockey who went on to become a successful trainer; his brothers Josh and Jamie are jump jockeys and his sister, Hayley, is a presenter on Sky Sports Racing.

‘I don’t remember much about Dad riding,’ he says. ‘I do remember him being broken up an awful lot, coming home from school and his leg would be hooked up on the bed in a cast.

‘I remember following him to Plumpton and Fontwell and it would be soaking wet! He’d stand us in the sauna to dry us out, me and my brothers.’

If those sodden memories make him wince, the one Gary provided for him on what was his first ride at Towcester in May 2000 changes his expression dramatically.

‘Where did you dig that up from?’ he asks, as a laptop with the footage of him bounding clear over the final hurdle, on a gelding called Mersey Beat, begins to play.

‘That was my only ride over jumps. You know, I can’t remember ever seeing that video at the time. I was doing my exams then. ‘I wasn’t allowed to ride until I had finished lessons. All I remember is falling asleep in the loo in the horse box on the way back!’

The journey home that night might have been uncomfortable but the journey since has been spectacular, with 182 Group One wins in 11 countries, including three Epsom Derbies, two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a Melbourne Cup and three Ascot Gold Cups, one of which was on the Queen’s filly Estimate in 2013.

Moore is the No 1 jockey for Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering Ballydoyle stable

Moore will keep pounding the hard yards in the never-ending pursuit of big race success

‘We were invited back to Windsor Castle that day and it was a treat,’ he recalls. ‘I’d ridden for the Queen since I was an apprentice.

‘I remember, even as a kid, Richard Hannon (his first boss) would be talking on the phone to her. He’d say, “Ryan’s here, Ma’am, I’ll put him on!”

‘He’d pass the phone over, “Tell Her Majesty what you thought of her horse yesterday!” You are thinking to yourself, “Jesus Christ!” She was always lovely, she always put you at ease. And she loved her horses. We will miss her. She was fascinated by it, this sport was her passion.’

It’s his passion, too. It’s why Moore will keep pounding the hard yards in the never-ending pursuit of big race success.

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