Story highlights
New UK series for female jockeys
Hayley Moore targets lucrative prize purse
Her brother Ryan is the star of flat racing
If a $124,000 jackpot had been up for grabs a decade ago, Hayley Moore’s life might have taken a very different path.
Then in her late teens, she had reached a crossroads. As a female jockey, her options for a professional riding career were limited.
Her father, Gary, who had struggled as a jockey before becoming a successful trainer, tried to steer her away from pursuing such a path – and she adhered to his advice.
Now, however, she is considering a crack at Britain’s new female-only flat-racing event, the Silk Series. A nine-race competition to be run between May and September 2017, it’s the first of its kind globally and will be worth a minimum ￡100,000 ($124,000) in prize money.
“My dad’s advice was to stay and study and I respected that because it was tough to make a living in it. Now 10 years on, we’ve got this,” says Moore, who combines riding as an amateur with her main work as a pundit in the horse racing industry.
“If that choice I had back then was now, I think it would have been a far harder choice for me. And it makes you hope in 10 years’ time there will be even more girls going for it.”
Racing family
The Moore family are no strangers to success, with her older brother Ryan regarded by many as the world’s leading jockey on the flat – a reputation consolidated by his second win in Europe’s richest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, last month.
She says she lost her voice shouting at the television as her brother’s mount, Found, kicked for the line to lead home a historic one-two-three for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Growing up, the siblings – along with their other jockey brother Jamie – would compete alongside and against each other at show jumping events.
“Ryan would win everything,” Moore says. “I tagged along with him and I was quite advanced even though four or five years younger than him – I guess it rubbed off on me. But put simply, I didn’t have the skill Ryan did.”
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Their father was also negative about Ryan becoming a jockey, and insisted his son see through his high school A-level exams at the very least before thinking about joining the professional ranks.
“I think that was to his benefit as he’s a very good sportsman, but he’s also very intelligent,” she adds. “I think you see that in his riding. I think he’s the best out there right now.
“Sure, he gets on the best horses but he still has to get them there to win, and he’s an incredibly tough rider to pass. He’s got incredible balance and he uses his brain very well.
“A lot of people say he’s quiet and reserved but he’s always been like that, and anyway he’s getting better. I was just the loud sister growing up!”
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While Moore has won some big races as a leading amateur – most notably the all-women Longines Handicap Stakes at Ascot – the Silk Series will be a big step up.
“What’s great is that for the first time for female jockeys, you can get the diary out and pinpoint your entire season,” she says. “And the prize money’s good, which means the horses will be too.
“It’s structured across the country and it can only help get more girls riding. They’ll look at this and think that’s something to aim at. It’s tempting for me too.”
Moore has to weigh up her other work commitments with her riding ones heading into next year, while she also helps at her family’s stables.
She spent a month in Australia ahead of last week’s Melbourne Cup working as a horse racing pundit, having launched her media career by winning a 2011 nationwide competition to find a female commentator – some of her early attempts involved calling races down the phone to her father as she watched on TV.
Moore wants more women to follow her lead.
“Both in the riding and the commentary, we need more girls to give it a go,” she says. “It’s funny but for me growing up, the gender thing wasn’t really an issue – and the idea that racing is a man’s world, I’ve not really encountered it.
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“My thoughts are if you’re good enough you’ll get your chance, there’s no doubt about it. If you’re good at working with horses, you’ll get the job whether you’re a boy or girl.”
She points to Michelle Payne, who last year became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.
“That’s such a big race to win that it will inevitably have a huge impact,” Moore says. “It shows gender doesn’t matter. It proves it can be done in one of the most recognized races in the world.
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“You just need to be in the right place whether you’re female or not.”