England-based Moore feeling right at home
There really is no close approximation of the Santa Anita turf course among the regular circuit of racecourses in Europe. Two tight turns and grass cut short as a pool tabletop are not conditions to be found overseas, and there have been European jockeys surprised and overwhelmed by the demands of the smaller American ovals, Santa Anita in particular, upon riding Breeders’ Cup races with foreign horses.
Ryan Moore is not one of those jockeys. Moore, 31, is considered in many quarters the finest jockey in the world. In his first trip to Santa Anita, he won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Turf with Conduit.
“I’m quite happy riding this turf,” Moore said. “It’s fast, but it’s got a good bounce to it. Look, every turf course is different. You have to adapt.”
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Moore, who is based in England, has found success in all quarters of the globe. Just last weekend, he managed to win the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia aboard Adelaide despite breaking from post 13, a very difficult draw. Santa Anita in particular and the Breeders’ Cup in general have been no exceptions. Moore has the highest strike rate of any regularly participating Breeders’ Cup jockey, having compiled a record of 6-2-1 from just 27 BC starters. And his record on the Santa Anita turf course? Five wins from just 14 runners.
Moore has no shortage of chances this weekend. He rides War Envoy in the Juvenile Turf, Qualify in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Dimension in the Turf Sprint, The Great War in the Juvenile, Telescope in the Turf, and the 2013 Filly and Mare Turf winner, Dank, as she bids for a repeat in that race.
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Asked his best chance among the group, Moore pondered a moment before replying, “Dank.” Dank, trained by Moore’s original major patron, Michael Stoute, likely will win the Filly and Mare Turf if she delivers a performance similar to last year’s, but the mare has not raced since June. Moore said he has ridden Dank in a couple of her major works preparing for Saturday’s race and thinks the filly is ready.
Telescope, another Stoute horse, has long been pointed to the Turf, but Moore will have to find a way through from post 1 on a talented horse perceived to be more a steady closer than a flashy, athletic type with gears. Even trickier will be the Juvenile Fillies Turf, in which Qualify breaks from post 14 going one mile on grass. But if anyone might work out a trip, it’s Ryan Moore.