RYAN Moore is looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home with his wife and three children following a hectic two months on the international racing circuit.

It was October 21st when Moore called time on his British season, effectively handing the domestic title to Richard Hughes. Four days later Moore won Australia’s Cox Plate on the Aidan O’Brien-trained Adelaide.

From there the in-demand rider went to California for the Breeders’ Cup (no winner), back to Australia for an unforgettable Melbourne Cup success aboard Protectionist, on to Japan where he won a handful of races on dirt and turf, before hitting Hong Kong last weekend where he was named the first winner of the Longines World’s Best Jockey Award.

It was back to Japan again this week for Moore and he will only get home to England next Monday. “It will be nice to have a break and recharge and look forward to next year,” he said. “I have done this sort of travelling around the world for the last few years. The hardest part is being away from the kids and the family.

“Unfortunately, you cannot ride forever and you won’t always get asked, so these opportunities need to be made the most of. The most important thing to me is riding good horses and at the moment I am getting asked to ride them. I don’t like to say no to riding the best horses in the most important races. As long as I get asked, I will keep doing it.”

The 31-year-old could never be accused of getting carried away by the praise heaped on him by racing professionals and the media. Although he accepted this latest award graciously and spoke openly for over 20 minutes to reporters afterwards, he stated bluntly: “You can never say who the best jockeys are. No one can ever work that out. There are brilliant riders out there and it is down to the horse you ride and the trip you get. All you do is make the most of the opportunities you are given.

“Luckily I get to ride for proper trainers and proper owners - I am just lucky to ride for them and I am sure there are plenty of jockeys that, given the opportunity, could do the same sort of job.”

This year Moore won 15 Group 1/Grade 1 races spread over four continents. He said he couldn’t pick out a single highlight though it was obvious that the Cox Plate/Melbourne Cup double gave him huge satisfaction.

“I don’t really like saying which races were bigger than the others or better than the others. Obviously, Melbourne was special. Both races down there were huge races. Winning the Melbourne Cup this year was very different. I realised how important the race is down there.

“Everything shuts down and everyone talks about it. You see the papers – I don’t know how many pages it is on but it seems like 10 pages in every paper. When you get to your hotel room there are three racing channels and it’s on the news as well. You don’t get that anywhere apart from Australia. I appreciate how big the race is. I was lucky to be riding a very good horse and just thankful for the chance.”

GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

Moore paid tribute to Adelaide and his connections. “I knew that Adelaide had an outstanding chance - he is a very high-class horse. When I saw the draw, my heart sank a bit but fortunately he had the talent. It was a great achievement for them (Ireland’s champion trainer Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore) to bring him down there and for the horse.

“The horse started [his season] in France, went to Ireland, Royal Ascot, Belmont in America, back to Ireland, to Arlington in America, back to France and then down to Australia. Not many horses take that. He must have a great constitution to do that.”

The Grey Gatsby, winner of the French Derby and Irish Champion Stakes with Moore on board, is also held in high regard by the rider. “The French Derby was always a race I wanted to win and it was a very strong Irish Champion Stakes. He proved himself to be a good horse that day.”

Looking ahead, Moore indicated that he will follow a similar path in 2015, basing himself in the UK and remaining on call for international duty should the likes of Aidan O’Brien, Sir Michael Stoute or any of the world’s top owners and trainers request his services. The Dubai Carnival, starting in January, is bound to be on his agenda though he has not committed himself to any horses or stables just yet.

“My riding arrangements in 2015 will be similar to this year. I am not sure when I will be going to Dubai - it just depends on what shorses pop up. We will see what happens.”