Gary Moore is calling time on a training career spanning 35 years, with his sons Josh and Jamie taking over the licence from next week.
The Sussex handler has sent out a stream of big-race winners over jumps, but who were the best of the lot? We have ranked his five highest-rated horses by the peak official rating they reached while in his care, and it is a list dominated by top-class two-milers.
=4. Traffic Fluide (OR 162)
Traffic Fluide reached a mark of 162 in February 2017, running in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury before taking his chance in the Champion Chase at 50/1. His best days came in handicaps, though, and 2018 was his year, with Josh Moore steering him to victory in the Silver Trophy at Cheltenham in April and the Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot in November.
=4. Ar Mad (OR 162)
Ar Mad shares fourth place with Traffic Fluide. He gave Josh Moore one of the biggest days of his riding career, when the Ashley Head-owned gelding won the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown at 14/1 in December 2015, before following up in the Grade 2 Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton later that month.
He went on to finish fourth and third in two runnings of the Tingle Creek, and his rating peaked at 162 in December 2017. He won five of his 16 races for Moore.
3. Goshen (OR 164)
Goshen is the one that got away. He was clear and seemingly bound for victory in the 2020 Triumph Hurdle when he unseated Jamie at the final flight, in one of the most dramatic finishes the Cheltenham Festival has seen in recent years.
Steven Packham’s gelding made amends with back-to-back wins in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton, and he went into the 2021 Champion Hurdle off a peak mark of 164. He added the Ascot Hurdle in November 2022 and has won 11 races in all for the yard.
2. Editeur Du Gite (OR 166)
Another two-miler in the Preston family colours, Editeur Du Gite was a tough two-miler who regularly outran his odds. He won the Red Rum at Aintree in 2021, then took the Desert Orchid Chase at 28/1 in December 2022 before landing the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at 14/1 a month later. The latter came at Cheltenham, after the race was switched from Ascot.
That top level success pushed him up to a career-high mark of 166, and he ran with that when fourth in the Champion Chase in March 2023. He won the Desert Orchid again that Christmas, this time in handicap company.
1. Sire De Grugy (OR 172)
There was only ever going to be one horse at the top of this list. Sire De Grugy was the stable star of the Moore family for the best part of six seasons, winning 17 of his 45 starts, and the 2013/14 season was the high point. Under Jamie Moore, the Preston family’s chaser won the Tingle Creek, the Clarence House Chase, the Queen Mother Champion Chase at 11/4 and the Celebration Chase at Sandown, four Grade 1s in the space of five months.
His official rating peaked at 172 early in 2015, when he ran off that mark in a second Champion Chase, and he returned to his best to win another Tingle Creek in December 2015. Few horses have been more popular in the south east.
Just missing the cut
Nassalam misses out by just a pound. He won the Welsh Grand National in December 2023 under Caoilin Quinn, and reached a mark of 161 when he ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National the following spring.
Moore’s retirement comes during a big week for the family, as his son Ryan Moore will be inducted into the British Racing Hall Of Fame at Ascot on Saturday.
Commercial notice: This article on GG.co.uk contains affiliate links. The offers we promote come from operators that we trust and our experts have first-hand experience dealing with. If you open an account through one of these affiliate links then GG will earn revenue. However, we ensure that the money earned goes back into improving and enhancing our coverage of horse racing and other sports, as we look to provide an excellent service to our growing audience.