Ryan Moore: A pleasure and a privilege to win for the Queen

The Queen is 'incredibly knowledgeable' about racing, Ryan reveals

One of the undoubted highlights of Royal Ascot week was Ryan Moore and Estimate winning the Gold Cup for the Queen on Thursday. The Betfair ambassador reflects on the victory and 'magical' post race scenes

Earlier in the season, I said in my column that the experience of riding in the Kentucky Derby for the first time was the best day's racing in my life, such was the atmosphere and occasion generated by the 150,000+ crowd, all seemingly consumed by the horse racing, beforehand.
 
Now, I am not getting into comparisons with Estimate winning at Royal Ascot on Thursday - not least because I couldn't, as I wasn't involved in the winning aftermath at Churchill Downs with Lines Of Battle  - but, of course, it was a massive thrill to have won the Gold Cup for the Queen and the post-race scenes were magical.

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be involved. 

Nonsense

But I have heard that some nonsense has been talked and written about my reaction, with apparently people saying that I was showing my emotional and human side on a racecourse for the first time last week.

I guess it is an easy and lazy thing for some to say, given the way I operate on a racecourse. Namely, that I view it is as primarily a place of work and people shouldn't lose sight of that. It's why I don't do talks in boxes or the like before racing (sorry Betfair!) because I don't want to short-change my employers. 

I would rather spend my time after I get to the track walking the course or making sure that I know as much as I can about the others horses in the races.

And Estimate's win on Thursday went exactly to plan. We had the draw, and she had the temperament, class and determination to take advantage of it.

Magnitude

Don't think for one moment that I didn't know or appreciate the magnitude of the win as soon as I went past the line in front. It was a fantastic day, one that I will never forget, and of course I was elated.

I have ridden big race winners for the Queen before (Estimate in the Queen's Vase last year and Carlton House in the Dante) but this was clearly on another level, not least because it was the Gold Cup and a Group 1 win.

And the best part of the day for me is when I was walking back in front of the stands after the race. I looked up, gave the Queen a wave, and she waved back. That was a very special moment.

Leveller

I will tell you something now, however. The thing with racing is it is a fantastic leveller, you are only 30 minutes away from the next success or failure and disappointment.

You only have to look at the Hardwicke to see that. One moment the horse has won the race, the next it is dead on the floor.

And you don't need me to tell you that how perilous the game is for jockeys, too; we saw that with Paul's narrow escape on Ektihaam in the same race.

In such a dangerous game as ours, we have to keep our mind on the job at all times and keep focused. Enjoy the moment, but then move on to the next one quickly.

We have to. It is why I don't get carried away when I win, or too down when I lose, though some people may beg to differ on the last point! There is no time to dwell upon success or failure in a sport when your next job is 30 minutes away. Very few other sportsmen operate in the way jockeys do.

Joy

That said, it was a massive joy to win on Estimate. 

Now, I am not going to disclose what The Queen said afterwards - it is not my place to - but I can tell you she is incredibly knowledgeable about the sport.

She knows the formbook, and the intricacies of stallions and bloodlines, inside out and I dare say that she is already planning who to send Estimate to. She is a great forward-thinker and planner and the passion she generated after the win was very real indeed. You could see the joy and emotion in her face and hear it in her words, too. The sport is simply very fortunate to have her as a supporter.

But, I have probably said too much already, so I will leave it there.