Tributes paid to jockey and Cheltenham winner who died aged 44

03 March 2023 , 17:59

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In 2017, Ben Moore won the Pertemps Champions Willberry Charity Race at Cheltenham on Three Star General (Image: Steven Cargill/Racing Fotos/REX/Shutterstock)

Tributes have been paid to a much-loved jockey and former soldier who tragically lost his fight against cancer.

Ben Moore competed in the conditional ranks before he joined the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in 1999.

The rider, who was 44, started his racing career with 15-time champion trainer Martin Pipe in Somerset. In the years that followed, Moore, who was a staff sergeant with the Army's ceremonial unit until 2022, returned to the sport for amateur races.

In 2001, he finished fourth in the Royal Artillery Gold Cup on The Queen's horse Braes Of Mar. But later in his race-riding journey, Moore became a Cheltenham-winning jockey, teaming up with the Pipe stable. Riding Three Star General, he was cheered across the line by family and friends in the 2017 Pertemps Champions Willberry Charity Race.

Moore was inspired to enter the contest by his daughter Grace, who had been diagnosed with leukaemia six months earlier.

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One of 12 riders taking each other on at the April Meeting, the group raised more than £120,000 for charities Willberry Wonder Pony and the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

Sadly Moore's illness returned and he died on February 1. Racing professionals and military representatives were among the mourners at his funeral in Ab Kettleby, Leicestershire, on Wednesday.

Champion, who won the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti, said: "Ben's winning ride at Cheltenham was inspirational and we are incredibly grateful for his enormous contribution towards our cancer research.

"I'd like to extend our condolences to his family and friends at this sad time."

Tributes were also left on social media to Moore, behind the rejuvenation of equestrian sport in the Royal Artillery and at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray according to Horse and Hound.

A fellow former jockey at the Pipe stable, Gerry Supple, wrote: "RIP Ben Moore thinking of all your family."

Others called Moore a "tower of strength" and "fantastic horseman."

Another tribute said: "A true inspiration. You said you did your best and your best was truly amazing."

Melissa Jones