He’s The World’s Best!

While the Aidan O’Brien-trained Luxembourg came within a heartbeat of a Grade 1 victory at a jam-packed Sha Tin on Sunday, which would have put the cherry on top of a terrific week, Ryan Moore still jets out of the racing-crazy bustling city this week as the proudly newly crowned four-time winner of the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey Award.

Moore and the top-class Luxembourg found James Mcdonald and recent Cox Plate winner Romantic Warrior in fighting trim, and failed narrowly to collar the Danny Shum giant as he took his earnings over the HK$ 100 million threshold with a glorious second consecutive victory in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.

“He ran a very big race. I was delighted with him,” said Ryan Moore of the gutsy runner-up in the Turf World Championship where he has won all four Gr1 events previously.

At a well-attended function last Friday evening at the plush Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Ryan was awarded the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey crown for 2023, tying with Frankie Dettori for the most victories in the prestigious award.

The European-based rider was the inaugural winner of the award in 2014, and won it again in 2016 and 2021.

Moore claimed the title with victories in eight of the ‘World’s Top 100 Gr1 Races’, including successes in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (Wellington), Tattersalls Gold Cup (Luxembourg), Epsom Derby (Auguste Rodin), St James’s Palace Stakes (Paddington), Coral-Eclipse (Paddington), Qatar Sussex Stakes (Paddington), Irish Champion Stakes (Auguste Rodin) and the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Auguste Rodin).

Ryan won this year’s award comfortably, totalling 156 points, 36 more than Dettori (120), while James McDonald, who won the title last year, was third with 116 points. The scoring process rewards jockeys for finishing in the top three of races.

The 100 highest-rated Group 1 races are as established for the year by the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee.

The scoring incorporates races from 1 December of the previous year until 30 November of the current year. Jockeys accrue 12 points for a win, 6 points for placing second, and 4 points for placing third.

When called upon in the capacity packed auditorium, the camera focussed on the champion, who clearly prefers riding winners to delivering speeches!

In accepting the award, he said he always wanted to ride the best horses, ‘and the best horses win the best races’.

Ryan was presented with a magnificent LONGINES Spirit Zulu Time watch from LONGINES Vice President Marketing Bernardo Tribolet, and a crystal vase by The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, in his role as Chair of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA).

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges thanked the self-effacing rider for everything he did to promote the sport of horseracing.

Ryan said getting to ride all around the world and competing against everyone else means more.

“I am very fortunate,” he added, thanking ‘the best team’ and saying he was grateful for the support he received from Coolmore and Ballydoyle.

“I get to ride some really good horses for great owners and trainers. When I started, the aim was to ride in the best races on the best horses. That’s what it really is always about.”

Moore, who rode Wellington to victory in last year’s Gr1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, had rides in all four Group 1 races at Sha Tin on what was a steaming hot Sunday.

He only returned to riding at Happy Valley’s Wednesday 6 December LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship following a fall in Japan last month. He won the second leg of the four-race championship, which was won by Vincent Ho on M Unicorn.

Ryan was born in Brighton and despite his family being steeped in horse racing, as a youngster, he wanted to be a footballer. He even had trials with local club, Brighton and Hove Albion.

But he took up racing at the age of 16, skipping his A-levels to concentrate on his new career.

Despite all his success and being in the spotlight on the racecourses of the world, Ryan has kept his personal life close to his chest. What is known is that he is married to Michelle Saunders, with the couple having four children.

He holds the distinction of being the only rider in Britain to break the £8 million barrier for domestic winnings in a single season, which he achieved in 2016.