Episode 543: Kevin Moses

I’ve all but lost count of the number of requests we’ve received for an interview with Kevin Moses. The most recent enquiry came from a regular podcast listener at a Sydney RSL Club. He was surprised to learn we’d spoken to the former jockey/trainer as far back as January 2020. At the time Kevin was training only one horse, and actually relinquished his licence a year later. The time is right to dust off that 2020 interview and give it another run on our regular podcast.  Kevin’s riding career brought 2300 winners including 22 Gr 1’s. He drifted into training initially to fill in time, but politely reeled off 364 wins including the Gr 1 Sydney Cup. Obviously one or two answers are now dated but in the main the interview could have been recorded yesterday. Kevin begins by recalling his entry into stable life. He says he was keen to continue riding trackwork after launching his training career. Kevin looks back on the shock positive swab that turned his training operation upside down in 2015.  He looks back on his very first training win with Comhere in 2002. He couldn’t believe it had happened on a metropolitan track. The horse had been sent to him by Gold Coast trainer Alan Bailey. Kevin says he learned many aspects of the training craft from Neville Begg with whom he spent his entire apprenticeship. He looks back on some of the horses to establish him among the Sydney training ranks. He makes special mention of No Wine No Song, the horse to provide him with a Gr 1 success.  Kevin acknowledges the assistance he received from son Shane who rode work most mornings alongside his father. He acknowledges the tremendous support of wife Jenny as a trackwork rider, stable foreperson and office administrator. Kevin speaks affectionately of daughter Tanya, son Darren and an increasing number of grandchildren. The top all round horseman makes the amazing confession that he was terrified of horses when he first joined the Begg stable. He looks back on two brief working stints before he became an apprentice jockey. Kevin talks about his experience as a boxer in a “paperweight” division. He says he took forever to get going in the Sydney riding ranks, and pays tribute to the two men who helped get him on his feet. Kevin has never forgotten his first city treble. The triple premiership winner remembers a Doncaster win on Authentic Heir for Tommy Smith in 1976. Moses didn’t know he was on Dark Eclipse in the 1980 Golden Slipper until the “eleventh hour”. In his heart he thought the filly had a great chance. The former jockey/trainer treasures the memory of his one and only ride on champion Emancipation. He was sent to Melbourne by Neville Begg to ride the grey mare in the Edward Manifold when Ron Quinton elected to ride Dalmacia in the Epsom. Both jockeys had reason to smile. Kev reflects on his great association with Lord Hybrow trained by expat Kiwi Neville McBurney. He was thrilled to win the 1994 Stradbroke Hcp on foolproof racehorse All Our Mob. Kevin remembers lightly framed mare Palace Revolt who had a curious record- 44 starts for just two wins. One of those wins was the Gr 1 Sydney Cup on a “bottomless” track. He devotes plenty of time to reminiscing about the remarkable horse Stylish Century.  He won a Victoria Derby and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on the gallant little stallion as well as going very close in a W.S Cox Plate.  Moses reflects on his four memorable seasons in Ireland riding for highly respected trainer Ted Curtin. He shares a humorous story about a ride in the famous Ascot Gold Cup when he was offered tuition during the race by the legendary Willie Carson. He speaks openly about the infamous “Jockey Tapes Scandal” of 1996 when he was one of three jockeys to be given hefty disqualifications. Kevin looks back on the three consecutive Sydney jockey’s titles that brought him a total of 301 winners and one dead heat. He reveals the names of the three jockeys he admired most. One of them had an amazing talent unrelated to riding racehorses. At the time we spoke to Kevin Moses he’d been in the racing industry for a total of 50 years. No wonder he had so many great yarns to share.