Kentucky Derby remains number one target for jockey Moore
RYAN MOORE still ranks the Kentucky Derby as the race he would most like to add to his already glittering CV.
The former champion jockey has won a raft of top-level races across the world, lifting each of the British Classics at least twice.
He’s also claimed two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes while both the Melbourne Cup and Japan Cup are on an otherwise impeccable CV.
However, his last two trips to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby have ended in disappointment, with Lines Of Battle finishing seventh in 2013 and Mendelssohn coming home last after a luckless run two years ago.
Victory in the ‘Run for the Roses’ remains an ambition Moore would like to fulfil.
He told Betfair’s ‘Lockdown Lowdown’ podcast: “The Kentucky Derby is always going to be high up there. There’s always new races now that are worth a lot of money. But I would stay the Kentucky Derby is number one for sure.”
Mendelssohn’s defeat was particularly disappointing for Moore as he appeared to have a decent shout prior to the race.
Winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Aidan O’Brien, the Scat Daddy colt had prepped for Churchill Downs with an 18-and-a-halflength romp in the UAE Derby at Meydan.
Mendelssohn was saddled with an unfavourable draw in stall 14 of 20 for the Kentucky Derby though, and Moore felt his chance had gone once he received a couple of significant bumps in the early stages.
The rider explained: “(It was over) after about one and a half strides – as soon as the gates opened. That’s what happens in America I suppose, they let them jump into you maybe. He got smashed out the gate and then we got cleaned up by him again on the first turn. It was just too much at that stage.”
Eventual winner Justify went on to take the Triple Crown while Mendelssohn placed three times in five American starts and now stands at Ashford
Stud in Kentucky. Moore added: “Obviously it was a good Kentucky Derby as it turned out.
“He was a late foal and he was able to beat the American horses in a Breeders’ Cup on the turf, but on the day they were so tough and so physically superior at that stage – it was a harsh reality.
“He was a very good horse, he had a hell of a pedigree and I look forward to seeing what he can produce at stud – I think he can be a success.”
While the Kentucky Derby remains elusive, Moore has won the Derby three times – and still has fond memories of his first Epsom success aboard Workforce for Sir Michael Stoute in 2010.
Workforce won in a racerecord time, and Moore recalled: “He had a serious amount of talent.
“He was quite a big, awkward horse and did use to hang, but he had quite a good mind and wouldn’t get too upset.
“We’d done a lot of work with him at home between the Dante and the Derby and gave him plenty of practice.
“I remember to saying to the lad leading him up, ‘all I have to do is get him down the hill and he’ll win’. He was very impressive on the day. He found it so easy on the day, when I asked him he quickened and the race was over very, very soon.”
■ Racing intends to stage two meetings a day – one in the North and the other in the South – when the sport can resume.
Further details will be held on Monday in the wake of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement to the nation on Sunday night.
“We understand that everyone across the industry wants to know the date on which racing can resume,” said a statement issued on behalf of the Resumption of Racing Group.
“We are continuing to have positive conversations with the Government. However, the reality is that the industry will need to understand more about the UK Government’s approach for the return of sport, and the operational implications of any continuing restrictions, before we can provide a clear date for resumption.”