Hayley Moore relishing racing festival at her beloved Brighton

She will be working for TV channel At The Races at the track she grew up with and where she rode her first winner.

The riding has taken a back seat for now as the sister of three-time champion jockey Ryan and jumps pilots Jamie and Joshua develops a flourishing media career.

Earlier this year, Moore became the first female on-course commentator in the UK.

She has presented at showpiece meetings such as Goodwood last week and Royal Ascot. She also works for bookmakers Coral.

"I haven't stopped riding," Moore (below left) said. "I've still got my licence, but it's hard to do the two and at the moment I'm trying to focus more on the media career.

"I am fit. I ran the Brighton Marathon in April, so it's not fitness, it's just riding out enough.

"I ride out as much as I can when I can. I wouldn't want to let any owners down unless I felt 100 per cent and at the moment I only real feel about 90 per cent."

Moore became accustomed to the unique characteristics of Brighton Racecourse from an early age.

Grandfather Charlie's stables were across the road. Dad Gary trained there as well before moving to Horsham.

Moore said: "From when we were kids we would walk across from where grandad trained to look at them down at the start.

"Then, as we got older, we were allowed to ride work in the mornings on the course, which was quite an exciting thing to do when you are first starting out, to progressing onto riding there ourselves.

"And, of course, watching grandad having some nice winners on the track back in the day to dad having winners there. It is a place that is always going to hold lots of fond memories for lots of different reasons.

"I was lucky enough to have my first winner there on a horse called Flying Spirit. That would be another reason why I quite like the track, although it was a real steering job. If I hadn't won it would have been very embarrassing!"

Back in May, Moore (below), modesty personified, hit the headlines when she caught a runaway horse, Give Em A Clump, at Chepstow where Albion fan and former Brighton Racecourse general manager Phil Bell is executive director.

Moore, presenting at the time, abandoned her mic and held on for dear life when the horse left her on the turf.

"I'm glad that it worked out, because it had galloped five miles which is a long way, further than the Grand National," she said.

"It was a point where I thought if it keeps galloping any longer it's literally going to drop down dead. I could see Phil Bell out on the track, trying to do his best. I've known Phil for years, so I thought I'd go out and give him a hand.

"I put the microphone down and the cameraman thought 'what is she going to do next?' That's why he caught it on camera.

"I have been on a racecourse a few times since then when there have been loose horses, but I have just left it to others and stayed away, because I think I got far too much attention for doing what I did. I definitely won't do it in a hurry again."

Moore will be leaving the catching, and riding, to the likes of brother Ryan during the Festival, which begins tomorrow with the feature race of the meeting, the Brighton Mile, worth over £20,000 in prize money.

Dad Gary (above) has an entry, Lord Clenaghcastle, while on Ladies' Day on Thursday the runners include popular course specialist Roy Rocket.

All the jockeys will have their work cut out to ride a perfect race. "It is quite a tricky course to get to grips with, knowing where to go with the undulations and turns," Moore said.

"You can have horses that really excel at the track. The likes of Roy Rocket (entered Thursday) is a good example. He absolutely loves it.

"It is a course that takes a bit of getting, especially coming down that hill and keeping a horse balanced and in a good position.

"It's not straighforward, a bit of an eye-opener. It teaches you to ride."

Tickets for the Marathonbet Festival of Racing (8-10 August) start from just £15 and are still available across the three days at www.brighton-racecourse.co.uk