For Jimmy Moore ’06, training as a Saint Anselm College basketball star helped prepare him for a Triple Crown career as thoroughbred assistant starter.
Jimmy Moore ’06 climbs a few feet up a steel wall to stand on a 4-inch shelf, wedging himself next to a 1,200-pound horse. He has eased the frenetic thoroughbred into the adrenalin-heavy starting gate of the Belmont Stakes in New York, and now pets it between the ears, shushing and whispering soothing words, anything he can do to calm it amid the loudspeaker announcements and cheering crowd.
He encourages the jockey sitting astride with a “You got this” and a nod. The horse whinnies, shifts its weight from side to side, and stomps its powerful hooves as Moore’s eyes flash to the clock ticking down. 3-2-1. The gates in front of them catapult open.
The jockey shouts, “Aya!” The horse surges out, its mane flayed, six competitors rocketing out of the starting lineup. And they’re off. Moore watches for a few moments as the horse surges around the track. It’s a gratifying moment to know it may win, thanks in part to a successful start.
But then Moore’s mind shifts to the next race, and the next one, as he jumps from his narrow perch and saunters away from the starting gates.
Reflecting on the most exhilarating three seconds of his life, the assistant starter of New York Racing Association (NYRA) and its oldest Triple Crown Race, Belmont Stakes, says he will start as many as nine races today and each day during the 10-week season.
Months of preparation for his three seconds of go time generate an intensity that seems as embedded in Moore’s DNA as in the horse’s. As a basketball player while at Saint Anselm College, Moore discovered the school’s community and reputation, as well as the athletics program, suited his energy and determination. So the Worcester native transferred to the Hilltop as a sophomore, and quickly became twotime basketball captain and MVP, scoring more than 1,900 career points and receiving two All-East Region honors. He was inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.
“I’ve always been basketball first, and that’s all I’ve really known throughout my entire life, because I love the game so much,” he says. “But I always had this passion for horses, horse racing, and the competitiveness.”
As a child, he’d go to the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with his father and great-grandmother. Pouring over the orange tip sheet that is still emblazoned in his memory, he learned everything he could about the horses, their rankings, and predicted performance, then glued his eyes to them as they tore down the track. He even ducked under fences to feed carrots and apples to horses at a farm nearby when visiting his grandparents.
With that comfort around these intelligent, powerful animals, Moore says it felt natural to find a career working with them. Relying on the discipline and leadership from his storied collegiate basketball career, Moore pursued horse starting with equal dedication. “It’s not the gambling,” he chuckles matter-offactly. “It’s seeing those horses run, and what it takes to get them to perform on a daily basis, to run in a race. They are equine athletes, and that’s what they are bred to do.”
FINDING A HOME ON THE HILLTOP
Basketball and horses are two consistent currents that weave through Moore’s college and professional careers because they equally capitalize on his training, skill, and focus. His mentors also fall within these categories. An athlete at heart, Moore credits the college’s basketball legend and coach Keith Dickson, whom Moore admired as a mentor, truth talker, and athletic leader. He inspired Moore to be disciplined in his training and provided a support network, even shuttling Moore back to campus and helping him recover after foot surgery on the eve of his senior season.
“The big thing is Coach Dickson. Coach always instilled credibility, that we were always accountable for our actions because it could affect the team. No one was ever bigger than the team and that translated to the basketball court. Coach created a brotherhood. He was a player’s coach, a terrific, terrific player at the University of New Hampshire, and he was completely honest with me, which I loved. Plus, we were the winningest program in history,” Moore recalls.
“I knew I was going to get a very, very good education from Saint Anselm. Stepping on campus just felt like home to me. I felt very comfortable. Even attending a few classes with the players, it just had a really good feeling for me, and I knew in my heart that it was the right choice to go there.”
With that foundation, Moore leaned into the athleticism and discipline that he knew best. A chance introduction to an equestrian farm in Massachusetts as a junior returned him to his childhood roots while testing his abilities with different methods. He soon learned how riding a horse improved his basketball skills by increasing his flexibility, core strength, and hip and calf musculature. Plus, he enjoyed being on the farm around thoroughbreds and Quarter horses that are known to look for a leader in the saddle.
“You’re better off getting the horse to trust you and to follow your lead. Once they trust you, they’ll do whatever you want to do. They are incredibly intelligent animals and can sense fear or uncertainty. And I think that’s one thing that translates to sports: Can you lead a basketball team? Can you lead by example?” he says. “It was always team first for me. I wanted to be the hardest worker, and I think that stems back to having three little brothers too. You want to lead by example and show them the right way to do things and look up to you.”
FROM BASKETBALL COURT TO HORSE RACING TRACK
Grateful to have his own advisers in all phases of his life, Moore says NYRA head starter Scott Jordan is a mentor on the track as Coach Dickson was on the court. Moore learned from Jordan how to pay attention to the assignments between horse and starter, how he talks to and leads trainers by example, and how he schools horses with patience and consistency.
Jordan, meanwhile, says Moore is made for this uncommon job. Athleticism and agility are key strengths when trapped in a steel cage with a 1,200-pound horse, he says, and they pride themselves on not getting hurt, “by knowing where to be, where not to be, but still being agile enough to keep yourself out of harm’s way, but also protecting that horse and the rider, your teammates who are right alongside you,” Jordan says from the stables at Saratoga Race Course, where the Belmont Stakes took place in June.
“Jimmy is such an attribute to have on our team. Because he has a leadership role, and that selfawareness of where he is and what he’s doing. It’s nice to have guys like that. I don’t want to worry, ‘Is this guy going to be able to hold up under pressure? Or is he going to crumble?’
Guys like Jimmy, who played sports at a higher level, don’t crumble under pressure. When the pressure gets strong, they get strong too.” Settling for just “what is” has never been Moore’s strong suit, so he looks ahead to what else he can accomplish.
“If you have a passion, you can’t settle just like that. I’m not thinking, ‘Oh, I just want to handle horses and be done.’ That’s not me,” says Moore, who doesn’t play basketball or ride horses at all anymore because of risk of injury. “I always want to continue to grow as a person and as a horseman, and get to the top.”
Guys like Jimmy, who played sports at a higher level, don’t crumble under pressure. WHEN THE PRESSURE GETS STRONG, THEY GET STRONG TOO.