Globetrotting jockey Ryan Moore will ride in three different continents in the space of a week with the Englishman jamming in a trip to Hong Kong to compete in Monday’s Classic Mile.
Moore will make a flying visit to Sha Tin to ride More Than This in the HK$10 million feature just 30 hours after competing in the US$1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf in Miami after he answered an SOS from owner Huang Kai-wen.
Moore will then ride the defending champion Rainbow Bridge in South Africa’s Group One Sun Met on Saturday – a race that will be simulcast by the Jockey Club.
All up, Moore’s week-long odyssey will see him rack up at least 25,000 kilometres in the air.
While Moore is expected to land in Hong Kong early Monday morning, trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai knows he cannot afford any missed flights.
“It is a little bit tight, hopefully the plane won’t be delayed otherwise I will have to find another jockey,” he laughed.
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“Maybe he needs to get a motorbike to get [to Sha Tin] if that happens.”
Moore will ride Aidan O’Brien’s Magic Wand in the Pegasus World Cup Turf before flying to Boston that night to catch a direct flight to Hong Kong.
The fact this season’s Classic Mile landed on the Lunar New Year meeting opened a small window of opportunity for Moore to take part in the race.
Had it been scheduled on a regular Sunday card, he would not have been able to make it to Hong Kong in time.
Moore has previously won the Classic Mile on the John Size-trained Sun Jewellery in 2016.