Knockabout lad Moore has an eagle eye on the Gosford Gold Cup
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday November 16, 2009
PHONE Glenn Moore about Gosford Gold Cup contender Enzedex Eagle, and you've got yourself a yarn. "Doing my best, trying to keep the wolf from the door, you know what it is like," Moore said yesterday."I took a thing to Narromine six months ago to race, it finished second, God love him. A journalist rang and said, 'What brings you to Narromine?' I said, 'Last time I looked, 6300 at Narromine was worth the same as 6300 at Newcastle, only thing is this horse don't go good enough to get anything at Newcastle. He went on to say, 'What is your best success in racing?' I said, 'Waking up every day."'There was time when Moore didn't wake up. "One Anzac day [1988] I was riding down at Riley's Paddock at Warwick Farm, and a horse crashed into a tree with me on it," Moore said. "The intensive-care ambulance took me to Liverpool Hospital, followed by a helicopter to Westmead. They drilled my skull, I was on life support there for a week. It was touch and go whether I lived."Moore works no more than four horses at Wyong. "The rest of my life is a complete shambles," he said. "But with my horses, I dot my Is and cross my Ts."As a kid, the now 46-year-old started out with horses in his backyard in western Sydney. Took out a licence to train at Port Macquarie aged 18. "Just a brief history €“ when I was 21 I got a job as foreman for a great racehorse trainer named Mal Gerrard down at Mornington. He was a genius. I got a bit homesick, I wrote a letter to Trevor Lobb, and got a foreman's job at Crown Lodge."I was there the day Crown Lodge opened along with a bloke called Brian Sherd and a fellow named Ian Wilkes, who had a runner in a Breeders' Cup race in the US last week."Crown Lodge was "too big me for me, that operation". Moore took on a job with Billy Prain. Then there was time a working for Bart Cummings on the legend's Princes Farm."The stint I did with Bart, I didn't learn much about racing," Moore said, "but I learnt plenty about development and rehabilitation of racehorses."I was at the spelling farm, horses there with all sorts of ailments and injuries. Beau Zam, Sky Chase, Tristanagh, Campaign King, they were all there. It was a good learning curve."The opportunity to take on Enzedex Eagle was due to mate Col "the plumber" Keane. Enzedex Eagle was with Chris Waller but Keane has plans to send the stayer to Macau, where "the plumber" has raced horses with success."I had a bit of luck with one of Col's," Moore said. "Last year a horse called Viking Eagle ... won four races with it."Moore told Keane he'd let the owner back in Viking Eagle. Keane wanted to know if it could race in his colours again."I told him to ---- off, I'm only giving you 49 per cent," he quipped.Enzedex Eagle arrived at Moore's Wyong stables three weeks ago. "He came to me rock-hard fit and in good working order," he said."It has simply been a case for me to keep him ticking over. He has done really well, settled into my routine pretty good. He is an old gentleman."Then there is the rider. Premier jockey Hugh Bowman takes the mount. "That is something I learnt early on in this business," Moore said. "No matter where you go racing, if you are looking for a jockey, always start with the best and work your way down the list."It [the cup] is a race that will be run at a fairly hot speed. He is a good quality staying horse, hasn't been far off the mark in these type of races. We'll leave it in the lap of the gods and Hughie."
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald