Ruth Moore can do it all, but chooses to focus on breeding and training

by Matthew Lomon

Horses had always been on Ruth Moore’s mind growing up, but never a part of her life. Until one day, they were.

“There were no horsepeople in my family; no one had an interest in horses except for me,” Moore said. “I just started going to the races with a family friend, helping him groom when I was maybe 10 or 11, and that got me hooked.”

An adolescent curiosity quickly became a full-fledged fascination for Moore, who began building her equine education in both the barns of a highly respected Ontario racing family and the classrooms of Humber College.

“I started working for Lorne Brethour,” Moore said. “I worked for Morley [Brethour], and I worked for Wim [Wilmot Brethour]. Murray [Brethour] was maybe 15 then. I was like a sponge — I just absorbed everything. I loved it right from the get-go.

“Then, I went to Humber for the Equine Studies course. I ended up working at the thoroughbred track between first and second year and worked for the Brethours part-time. I was three days at Woodbine with the thoroughbreds and four days with the Brethours.”

Her time with the latter left a lasting impression.

“I stuck with the standardbreds,” Moore said. “That was it for me.”

Equipped with the tools to launch a career of her own, Moore took the leap and obtained her trainer’s license in her early 20s.

Shortly after, the newly-minted conditioner purchased her first racehorse — a pacing mare named The Do Ins — from Millar Farms.

“She was a horse that didn’t fit their class, so they sold her off cheap, and I bought her,” Moore said. “She gave me one to have a little bit of fun training and racing.”

The daughter of Armbro Ranger—Pats High Sea provided Moore with a wealth of first-hand experience, which proved especially beneficial on Aug. 28, 1993, at Kawartha Downs — otherwise remembered as the night of Moore’s first training win, courtesy of San Ott.

“It was a long journey to get there; it was a big deal,” she said of the quarter-length victory. “I bought that horse out of the Delaware sale [Blooded Horse Sale in Delaware, OH]. He cracked a knee before I got him racing, and then that was his comeback — he came back, and he won there.

“I just remember it being quite a feeling of satisfaction to finally get there and get a win with him.”

Moore, emboldened by her journey to that point, was always on the lookout for the next challenge, and the ever-evolving horsewoman knew exactly where to find it.

“I was never satisfied with just being a groom, being a trainer,” she said. “I wanted to go that one step farther and drive my own horses. I thought that the ultimate fun win would be one that you raised yourself, so I went that route.”

Moore’s aspirations came to fruition, exactly as she had intended, when she piloted Obra Colleen to a 5¾-length triumph on Dec. 2, 2000, at Flamboro Downs.

“My first win was on a homebred that I couldn’t sell because no one wanted her, she was too small,” Moore said. “Going into that race, I was fairly confident that she was going to win. I just drove her like she was the best, and that was it. She had some good stats her first few starts. She was a nice little filly for me. It was really satisfying because no one wanted her.”

As for how Moore’s first driving win measured against her first training win, she said, “Oh, there’s no comparison. Especially, at that time, I had bred the mare, foaled the mare out, raised it, broke it. Michelle Hogan was working for me and helping me at the time, and we got her going — that win was pretty special.

“Plus, I shod her myself at that time. I was kind of a jack-of-all-trades master of none, but she was just a natural filly, and I had a lot of fun with her.”

Moore, who in her words, “had no intentions of being a ‘driver driver,’” ended up making 94 starts before relinquishing the reins for good.

It was an organic conclusion to that chapter of her career.

“I knew pretty much after that win that I got at Clinton [Aug. 28, 2011] with a little horse called Stars Go Blue,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “I had all kinds of drivers on that horse, and no one could win. Then, I drove him, I got the win, and I was satisfied as weird as that sounds.”

At the time, Moore’s ventures in training and driving were largely complementary to her duties as a breeder.

“I was mostly playing around with what I didn’t get sold because I had my own studs,” she said. “I was running a breeding operation, not a training operation. The training part was just an on-the-side thing.

“I usually had three or four studs every year and a bunch of broodmares that I was boarding for people and breeding for people.”

Moore’s proficiency as an all-around horsewoman continues to shine through the trio of homebreds she and husband, fellow horseman James Hastie, race around the Ontario circuit today.

The group of pacers, R J Ringo, RJ Jean, and A Sailors Delight, all share the same mare, Smilesandchuckles.

The captain, with a 16-10-6 line and more than $175,000 in total purse earnings from 78 starts, R J Ringo has authored some of Moore and Hastie’s most memorable moments.

“They’ve all raced relatively well, and it’s been a journey for us because we’ve always been B-track trainers — [my husband] Jamie had a nice colt years ago — but when [R J] Ringo went to Mohawk, and we won back-to-back [in September 2024] that was probably one of the most satisfying things for us seeing that our little old homebred could go down there and compete.”

Moore can always count on her big three giving their all, no matter the stage or opponent.

“They’re just about as gritty as they come,” she said. “They all go out and do their job, and they’re happy to do it. They’re just an honest, honest bunch.”

Moore, who has been with Hastie since 2010, always had a vision for her life in racing. Now, with Hastie by her side, she gets to live out that dream on their terms.

“Jamie and I, we just enjoy it,” she said. “That’s why we do it. We don’t do it for a living. It’s a hobby, and the grassroots people, I believe, are what makes this industry run. We’re just happy to be part of it.”