UK Champion Jockey Ryan Moore was awarded the first Longines World’s Best Jockey title during the gala dinner of the Longines Hong Kong International Races on 12 December 2014.
Mike de Kock’s international stable jockey Christophe Soumillon occupies second spot ahead of Joseph O’Brien.
The Longines World’s Best Jockey Award, a joint initiative of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) and Longines, marks the first time that a jockey will be quantitatively recognised as the best among one’s global peers.
The mercurial Ryan Moore with his gifts from Longines.
Moore was a consistent presence during the entire season, remarkably winning five of the top 100 International Group 1 races (the Dubai Sheema Classic presented by Longines at Meydan, the Prix du Jockey Club in Chantilly, France, the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes in Ireland, the Sportingbet Cox Plate at Mooney Valley in Australia, and the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington), while finishing 2nd three times, and finishing 3rd four times. He scored 94 points, while Christophe Soumillon (Belgium) finished second with 88 points and Joseph O’Brien (Ireland) finished in third place with 72 points.
The awarding of the Longines World’s Best Jockey is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 international races as established for the year by the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. The scoring incorporates races from 1 December of the previous year until 30 November of the current year. Jockeys accrue 12 points for a win, six points for placing second, and four points for placing third.
Quite laughably, the Gr1 Computaform Sprint was the only South African race regarded as a Top 100 race. It was won by Piere Strydom, who got 12 points for his win and 68th spot on the log.
Here are the Top Five on the Logines Log and others of note to South African racing fanatics:
1 Ryan Moore
2 Christophe Soumillon
3 Joseph O’Brien
4 James Doyle
5 Zac Purton
7 Richard Hughes
14 Frankie Dettori
20 Joao Moreira
36 Douglas Whyte
47 Glyn Schofield
51 Anton Marcus
68 Piere Strydom
85 Kevin Shea
