THE great comedian, Tommy Cooper, once told the story of finding a Stradivarius and a Rembrandt in his loft.
He took the items to an antique shop and the owner confirmed: “You do indeed have a Stradivarius and a Rembrandt.
“Unfortunately… Stradivarius was a terrible painter and Rembrandt made crap violins.”
I’m not sure if any message was intended, but it is often advisable to stick to what you do best rather than try to be something you are not.
Watching Los Angeles win last Sunday’s Irish Derby, it suddenly occurred to me that, firstly, I couldn’t remember the last time Ryan Moore rode a bad race and, secondly, how his demeanour remains unchanged whatever the outcome.
It was a tactical set-up at The Curragh with Aidan O’Brien’s other three runners all ‘struggling’ mysteriously to negotiate the home turn, and Moore aboard a superior horse.
But his ride on the big and raw Jan Brueghel the previous day tested all his skills and was just superb.
Clearly, the son of Galileo is work in progress and he wasn’t racing as he should have been in the second half of the race.
Jan Brueghel had his head high, seemed to be backing off and was changing his legs, a difficult situation for any rider yet Moore somehow got him organised enough to lead close to the finish.
I’m not sure many other jockeys could have won on him.
Earlier in the month, at Royal Ascot, he produced two eye-catching riding performances on Kyprios and Fairy Godmother, and the big-race victories just keep on coming.
For sure, Moore has the well-earned advantage of sitting on some very good horses but when winning the Derby on City Of Troy, it was almost instinctive how he seemed to find a clear run through the pack having been drawn on the inside.
When interviewed, he can be quietly informative sometimes if asked the right question but, ordinarily, somewhat less expansive.
For example, that dreadful, stock question: “has it sunk in yet?”, deployed by far too many TV broadcasters, is unlikely to elicit much more than a ‘name, rank and serial number’ response.
Poor old Bob Cooper, the soon-to-retire ‘Sky Sports Racing’ presenter, has often received particularly short shrift (to much general
amusement) at minor meetings and, asked at the Royal meeting, what it meant to surpass Frankie Dettori’s total number of victories, Moore replied with a deadpan: “Do you want the right answer or the real answer?”
And, his reaction to winning the Oaks some years back was: “Well it’s not the Derby is it?”
So, he’s not one to get carried away and expressing any emotion (in public at least) just isn’t in Moore’s make-up.
In this respect, he is not the full, transcending package for the sport that perhaps Dettori has been and it’s hard to imagine him being tempted to enter the celebrity jungle or give Aidan O’Brien a sloppy kiss after another big win.
Or tell old Tommy Cooper jokes.
But this is a man true to himself, and his destiny, and what a magnificent and lucrative career he must have enjoyed (deep down) despite the outward solemnity.
On Saturday, Moore will be in the hot seat yet again when City Of Troy lines up in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown with a good deal at stake.
The Derby winner will start a short-priced favourite and looks the star of the season. So, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, plenty. There are some potentially troublesome rivals and, even in small fields, the worst can happen to the very best as Kieran Fallon discovered on Bosra Sham in 1997.
Trapped on the inside turning for home, he went for a gap up the rail only to have the door slammed in his face by the Derby winner Benny The Dip and Willie Ryan.
The top class filly rallied but she never looked like recovering enough to catch the winner Pilsudski.
And, in 2017, it all went wrong for O’Brien and Moore when, hoisted by their own petard, the favourite Cliffs Of Moher was badly hampered in the early stages after his wide-drawn pacemaker Taj Mahal hung badly right into other rivals causing a knock on effect.
As things turned out, Cliffs Of Moher wouldn’t have been good enough to beat the subsequent Juddmonte International winner Ulysses anyway – and was behind him again at York – but it was another example of things not going to plan.
In contrast, Moore rode an inspired tactical race on Notnowcato in the 2007 running when making a beeline for the stands rail and catching his rivals unawares.
This season, there is a bit more hanging on City Of Troy than any other horse in O’Brien’s yard, and it is very important for the colt’s reputation and future stud value that he wins on Saturday.
In such pressure situations, Moore is the man but, should he win at Sandown, don’t be expecting any flying dismounts.
Nor, quite rightly, anything much more than a dismissive scowl if asked: “Ryan, has it sunk in yet?”
