LEGENDARY RIDER RYAN MOORE MADE HIS LONG-AWAITED RETURN TO ACTION THIS YEAR WITH A POWERFUL PERFORMANCE AFTER A BROKEN LEG AND SAW HIS SON MAKE A BIG BREAKTHROUGH
In the high-stakes world of flat racing, where fortunes shift with the flick of a whip and legends are forged in the final furlong, few stories resonate like that of Ryan Moore.
The unassuming Englishman, whose quiet demeanor belies a career of unparalleled dominance, marked 2025 as a year of triumphant return and family legacy.
After enduring a debilitating stress fracture to his femur that sidelined him for over three months, Moore stormed back into the spotlight with a performance that reaffirmed his status as the world’s premier jockey.
Even more poignantly, he watched from the sidelines as his 17-year-old son, Toby, etched his own name into the sport’s storied annals with a breakthrough victory that echoed the Moore family’s storied tradition.
Moore’s absence began in the humid haze of summer, tracing back to the Irish Derby weekend in late June. What started as nagging discomfort in his right leg escalated into a confirmed stress fracture by August, forcing him off the track just as the European season hit its crescendo.
The diagnosis was a gut punch for Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle powerhouse, where Moore serves as the retained rider for the Coolmore syndicate. With 220 Group 1 wins already under his belt—including a record nine Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes and three Epsom Derbies—the 42-year-old’s void left a gaping hole.
O’Brien, ever the tactician, turned to ten-time French champion Christophe Soumillon to plug the gap. Soumillon rose to the occasion spectacularly, piloting Ballydoyle runners to seven Group 1 triumphs during Moore’s layoff, including Gstaad’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf victory in November and Delacroix’s Irish Champion Stakes success.
For Moore, the injury wasn’t just a physical setback; it was a rare pause in a career defined by relentless precision.
Son of trainer Gary Moore and brother to jump jockeys Jamie and Joshua, Ryan had ridden through pain before—recall his gritty 2009 champion season despite chronic issues—but this femur fracture demanded full retreat.
“It’s part of the job,” his agent Tony Hind would later say, encapsulating the stoic ethos of the weighing room. Confined to rehabilitation in Newmarket, Moore channeled his energy into analysis, poring over race replays and mentoring from afar.
Yet, the toll was evident: he missed the Arc, where stablemate Bluestocking triumphed under another rider, and the Breeders’ Cup, where he could only watch as O’Brien’s charges dazzled in California.
As autumn deepened, whispers of Moore’s comeback grew. By late November, the British Horseracing Authority gave the green light, and on December 3, under the floodlights of Lingfield Park, the legend returned. Named on five mounts, Moore wasted no time reasserting his mastery.
His first ride, Sovereign Wealth in the opening 7f nursery, finished a creditable second, but it was the feature Winter Oaks Trial Fillies’ Handicap that ignited the crowd.
Aboard John and Thady Gosden’s Morrophore, the four-year-old filly Moore had schooled himself on Newmarket’s gallops the previous weekend, he orchestrated a clinic in tactical brilliance. Settled midfield on the Polytrack, Moore tracked the leaders with his trademark patience before unleashing a devastating turn of foot in the straight.
Morrophore surged clear by two lengths, her synthetic-suited stride devouring the ground as the roar built to a crescendo. “He’s back,” one punter murmured in the stands, a sentiment echoed across racing’s digital forums.
The victory wasn’t mere nostalgia; it was a statement. At 15% strike rate with George Boughey, Moore’s partnership with the young trainer had long promised more, and Sovereign Wealth’s near-miss hinted at untapped potential. But Morrophore’s win—her first since a promising juvenile campaign—catapulted her into Oaks contention, with Gosden Sr.
hailing Moore as “one of the best in the world, if not the best.” Trainer Richard Hughes, providing two rides that day, added a personal touch: “Hopefully we might give Ryan a winner—he’s had a good run with injuries, but it’s great to have him back.
We need him as a sport.” By day’s end, Moore had notched a double, his second success coming aboard a Boughey filly in a sprint handicap, blending power with poetry in a ride that left analysts nodding in approval.
Yet, amid the adulation for Ryan’s resurgence, a parallel narrative unfolded—one of generational torch-passing. While his father mended, Toby Moore was charging headlong into the fray.
The teenager, with his father’s piercing focus and grandfather Gary’s grit, had joined Charlie Appleby’s Moulton Paddocks as an apprentice in May, trading pony racing for the professional saddle. Surrounded by luminaries like William Buick and Billy Loughnane, Toby’s path seemed predestined.
His debut came on October 10 at Kempton, aboard Godolphin’s Valdorcia in a 6f fillies’ novice.
Clad in the iconic blue silks, the 17-year-old guided the Oasis Dream filly to a gritty third on his first mount under rules—a baptism of fire that drew proud words from Ryan: “He’s done brilliantly. It’s a tough start, but he’s learning fast.”
Nineteen days later, on October 29, lightning struck. Returning to Kempton on the same filly, now stepped up to 7f, Toby claimed his maiden victory in Division One of the Unibet 2000 Sponsored Races EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes.
Valdorcia, a homebred with black-type pedigree as a half-sister to Group 1 winner Avilius, relished the extra distance. Toby, claiming a precious 7lb allowance, settled her quietly before asking the question at the quarter-pole. The response was electric: Valdorcia quickened like a dream, powering home by three lengths in 1:26.75.
The Kempton crowd erupted, sensing history in the making. “He’s at home today, watching,” Toby said post-race, glancing skyward where Ryan, still recovering, tuned in from afar. “Hopefully, he’s back soon.”
This breakthrough wasn’t isolated serendipity. Toby had already tasted the saddle’s demands, finishing second on his fourth ride at Newbury for his grandfather’s yard aboard Yellow Star in a gamble-laden apprentice handicap. A subsequent collarbone fracture in late November sidelined him briefly—irony mirroring his father’s trials—but Toby’s resilience shone through.
By December, as Ryan rode at Lingfield, Toby was back in the string, his first win a beacon for the Moore dynasty. With uncles Jamie and Joshua thriving over jumps and sister Hayley a racing broadcaster, the family’s imprint on the turf is indelible.
Ryan, ever the reticent patriarch, later reflected: “Toby’s got the talent, but it’s the work that counts. I’m just glad to see him enjoy it.”
As 2025 draws to a close, Moore’s gaze turns eastward. Cleared for Hong Kong’s International Jockeys’ Championship on December 10 at Happy Valley—pitted against Buick, Hollie Doyle, and Joao Moreira—he eyes a blockbuster finale.
O’Brien has Los Angeles and The Lion In Winter primed for Sha Tin’s International Races, where Moore could etch another chapter in his 11 Group 1-winning 2025. For Toby, the horizon brims with apprenticeships and ambitions, his Kempton conquest a springboard to bigger stages.
In a sport where legacies overlap like hoofprints on yielding ground, Ryan Moore’s return transcends personal glory. It’s a saga of survival, of a father’s quiet pride in a son’s ascent, and of racing’s unyielding pull.
As the Lingfield lights faded on December 3, one truth lingered: the Moores aren’t just riding the wave—they’re shaping its crest. With Ryan’s power undimmed and Toby’s breakthrough igniting fresh fire, 2026 beckons as a year for the ages. In the weighing room, whispers already swirl: the dynasty endures.
