His brother, Ryan, won the Derby and the Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe last year but Jamie Moore remains forlornly short of keynote winners. He would love to remedy it with a maiden Cheltenham Festival success next week but his initial focus is on the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown Park today, when he rides Via Galilei for his father, Gary.
Jamie, 26, has made a regrettable habit of missing Cheltenham. “I’ve had suspensions and injuries of all sorts,” he said in his engagingly hangdog way. “I’ve probably missed half the Festivals since I started riding, so just getting there this time would be good.
“I was banned in 2004 when Dad had his only winner there with Tikram. We’ll have a few runners from the yard next week. Megastar, in the Supreme Novices, might be just short of top class, so our best chance this time is Whitby Jack in the Fred Winter.”
Gary Moore’s Sussex stable continues to thrive across both codes — Bergo, a runner-up at Meydan in Dubai on Thursday, will run next over fences at Aintree — but the Imperial Cup is just the sort of competitive handicap at which he excels.
Via Galilei is turned out quickly after scoring at Newbury a week ago and Jamie said: “He won very well last Saturday and he needs a true-run race, which he’s sure to get. The uphill finish at Sandown is my only concern.”
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Pipe aims to clean up with Dynaste
David Pipe avidly targets the Festival conditional jockeys’ race named in honour of his father, Martin, and was aghast when the handicapper raised Dynaste to a mark that disqualified him. “He was my banker for the race,” Pipe confirmed. The hint should be taken at Sandown Park today, when Dynaste instead lines up in the EBF paddypower.com Novices’ Final. “He’s young and improving and he won a competitive hurdle at Taunton pretty well. I also have him in two other Cheltenham races,” he said.
Starluck on Aintree trail
Talented though he is, Starluck could yet go down as a nearly horse after failing to win on the six occasions he ran in grade one company over hurdles. This fear prompted a switch to fences by Alan Fleming, his trainer, and, although Cheltenham has been ruled out, Aintree will be the aim if he registers a second win at Sandown Park today. Tony McCoy, who has replaced Timmy Murphy as his jockey, schooled the horse in midweek. “He thought his jumping had improved a good bit,” Fleming said.