Moore's Sire De Grugy wowing crowds at Retraining of Racehorses yard

One of jump racing's biggest stars is turning heads in the hotbed of Flat racing as 2014 Champion Chase winner Sire De Grugy has recently taken up residence in Newmarket for the summer.

The 12-year-old is the star attraction at Palace House, the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art, where he is among five retired heroes in the flagship Retraining of Racehorses Rothschild yard.

As part of the process of joining RoR, the popular former chaser, who was owned by Steve Preston and family and was trained by Gary Moore, will begin a process of identifying what possible alternative careers may be ahead of him once he has settled in

Visitors to the museum, specifically the Rothschild Yard, will be able to meet him over the next two months, along with new stablemates Purple Moon, Starluck, Catena Alta and Mulk.

RoR supervisor Sue Molloy said: "It's fantastic we have a horse of Sire De Grugy's standing at Palace House and hopefully people will want to come and see him. He's the easiest horse to deal with and I'm sure he'll be popular with the visitors."

She added: "The Moore's have kindly lent him to us for a couple of months but he's on a working holiday. The plan would be to get him to stand still like a hack and eventually lead the family's ponies when he goes home."

Sire De Grugy retired from racing as an 11-year-old in 2017, having won 17 times and amassed an impressive £885,446 in prize-money.

Trained by Moore and ridden by his son Jamie, his career highlights, aside from the Champion Chase, included two victories in the Tingle Creek and successes in the Clarence House and Celebration Chase.

Jamie Moore said: “Sire De Grugy is a very special horse. He's given me some of my greatest rides and wins and is part of the family. He's fantastic with kids and my six-year-old trots him around the yard and he’s as good as gold.

"It's great he's going to spend a couple of months in Newmarket at Palace House, where everyone can meet him and, importantly, see the great and valuable work of RoR.

"But I'm not going to lie, I'm already missing him.”

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