Moore wins International Jockeys' Championship
Racing Post
Happy Valley: Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship
RYAN MOORE lifted the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship outright for the first time at Happy Valley when two wins during the four-race series was enough to snatch the title from the grasp of Hong Kong's perennial champion Douglas Whyte.
Last year Moore shared the title with Johnny Murtagh and Christophe Lemaire in a three-way tie and his latest honour came 11 days after winning the World Super Jockeys' Series in Tokyo.
The three-time British champion jockey, who had been rated a 20-1 chance in the HKJC's Jockeys' Championship market, made the perfect start on what appeared his only strong winning chance of the night by swooping late to take the first leg on Something Special for trainer Tony Millard after a patient ride to deny Jolly Wongchoy and Olivier Peslier.
The luck of the draw was less kind to Moore in the second and third legs when his two mounts, both rank outsiders, ran up to expectations, but he was at his forceful best when coaxing 25-1 chance Fearless (David Ferraris) past just about every rival from the tail of the field in the decider to secure the HK$200,000 (approximately £16,000) first prize and trophy.
The other riders to take part were Murtagh, Lemaire, Brett Prebble, Anton Marcus, Olivier Peslier, Nash Rawiller, Julien Leparoux, Hiroyuki Uchida and Howard Cheng.
"I went out pretty confident with the first winner Something Special because Tony told me the horse was in good form and how to ride him. He had a good draw and picked up well for me in the straight," Moore said.
"To be honest, I didn't hold out too much hope of winning the last race beforehand on form, but Fearless went to post feeling really good in himself, then he travelled well and when he picked off one at the top of the straight, he really wanted to get past the rest of them.
"It's a really nice buzz to ride winners anytime, but to do it in these big, prestigious competitions, it adds more to it because you need a lot of things to fall your way and a good bit of luck to get a result."
Moore can now look forward to "four good rides" in each of the four Group 1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races on Sunday at Sha Tin aboard Snow Fairy (Cup), Paco Boy (Mile), Crystal Capella (Vase) and Kingsgate Native (Sprint).
"They each have chances on their best form and I am hoping they can get decent draws and find some luck in running. It's a real privilege to be going into such a big meeting with a full book of international rides so I hope to make the most of it," he added.
The two other international jockeys' championship events went the way of a Valley newcomer in Nash Rawiller and the ever-prolific resident ace Whyte.
In the second leg, champion Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller celebrated his 36th birthday in style by making every post a winner aboard Record High (Me Tsui) whereas Whyte took the remaining event on My Goal for trainer Alex Wong.
The other notable result of the night came when Gerald Mosse landed his 500th winner in Hong Kong on Mark Up (Caspar Fownes) in the final race.
Mosse will be strongly fancied to make it 501 in the Vase on Sunday when reunited with Emirates Melbourne Cup hero Americain for Alain de Royer-Dupre.
The win also snapped a run of 45 consecutive losers for trainers' title hopeful Fownes.
Another Frenchman, Olivier Doleuze, saluted on his two sole rides on the programme when Golden Boy (Michael Chang) and Bolero (Ricky Yiu) collected at combined odds of more than 400-1.
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