Gary Moore feels sorry for son Josh as he bemoans 'worst season for a long, long time' in their first with a joint licence

Gary Moore has said he feels sorry for his son Josh after enduring his "worst season for a long, long time" in their first campaign sharing a licence.  

Sire De Grugy, Porticello and Editeur Du Gite have been among the Grade 1 winners over the last three decades for a yard where former jockey Josh joined his father on the licence in May.

Although they have had significant wins with Le Patron and Mark Of Gold in a campaign yielding 22 winners, they are dissatisfied with their current tally and position of 18th in the trainers' championship.

Gary, who saddled Casa Loupi for his second winner of 2025 at Sandown on Friday, said: "It's my worst season ever, I think. Poor old Josh, it's definitely not his fault, but it's the worst season we've had for a long, long time."

Although it has not disrupted work mornings at Cisswood stables in Lower Beeding, West Sussex, Moore believes challenging weather has been the primary reason for his yard's downturn in form.

"It's been a messy season," he said. "There have been abandonments, the ground was too quick one minute and then they were calling it off. There's just been no smooth running at anything."

Salver (right): finished second to Nemean Lion at Windsor two weeks agoCredit: Edward Whitaker

Gary Moore topped £1 million in prize-money in the final three seasons training under his own name and had a record 92 winners in 2021-22. The pair's current strike-rate of ten per cent is the lowest since Moore had 29 winners in 2011-12.

Moore hopes the Sandown success can signal a change in fortunes and is looking to the future with recent placed runners, Salver and Mondo Man, the €520,000 purchase who chased home Triumph Hurdle favourite Lulamba on his hurdling debut at Ascot. 

"Salver is a lovely horse," he said. "I can't wait for him to go chasing but he's too young at the moment. Mondo Man is quite nice. He was too keen for his own good at Ascot. He cost a lot of money, but that's the way it is. 

"I've had Prix du Jockey Club runners before, but usually by the time I get them they're due to retire, they're not four-year-olds. He's been bought for the Flat, but we'll run him in the Adonis and then the Triumph. Unlike Nicky's horse [Palladium], he's a gelding."

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