Hayley Moore: 'It was a random thing to do. I didn't expect it to go viral'

Sky Sports Racing presenter Hayley Moore was the heroine of the hour at Chepstow in May 2018 as she dramatically stepped in to catch Give Em A Clump, who was running loose on the course.

Moore, daughter of trainer Gary Moore and sister of riders Ryan, Jamie and Josh, was knocked to the ground but managed to hold on to the wayward runner after he had unseated jockey Fran Berry.

The footage of Moore's remarkable catch was shared widely on social media and, in the first of a new series, we caught up with her to relive her magic TV moment.

Hayley Moore, Sky Sports presenter

I was watching the race and it was awful to see the horse do what he did. Fran Berry hit the deck and it looked as though the blinkers had slipped up so Give Em A Clump was running a little bit blind. He proceeded to do two full circuits of Chepstow racecourse.

I didn't take much notice of it and analysed the race. I did an interview with the winning jockey Dane O'Neill. We both looked over our shoulders and saw the horse, who had lost his footing. I thought, 'Oh my word', that's the same horse and he's still galloping.

I headed back up to my presentation position and saw Phil Bell go out on the track to try to catch the loose horse. I thought I'd give him a hand and give this horse a chance to be caught as he'd galloped nearly five miles, which people may not have realised.

He headed towards me and I thought I'd go for the reins because if I stop him he'd come to a halt because he's exhausted. He circled around me and unfortunately knocked me over as well.

I had to hold on as he needed to stop, he was exhausted. You're taught to let go of a horse if you're being dragged on the floor but I knew he was tired and held on. Then I got the tack off and got him some water. It was all about the welfare of the horse, who I expected was going to gallop himself into the ground. I wanted to help him.

My cameraman [John Hill] doesn't miss anything and got it all on camera so everybody got to see the mad moment. It was a bit stupid. I'd do it at home on the gallops but never on a track again with cameras watching. It got a lot more attention than I thought.

It was quite funny looking back and watching it. It was a random thing to do. I wasn't expecting the reaction it got. I thought it would be on the At The Races Twitter but I didn't expect it to go viral. It went international and had millions of hits. It made BBC Breakfast the next morning and was picked up in Hong Kong and the US.

Jason Weaver, Sky Sports pundit

I was in the studio when it happened. Hayley obviously comes from a family steeped in horses, so for her it was a natural reaction but to the world it looked like she'd just done something absolutely crazy.

If a horse is coming at you flat out, you get out the way. However, the horse was exhausted and she made the split-second decision to grab him. She had the experience and weighed up the situation.

I think she was really unlucky if I'm being honest because the horse jinked. She had it and if he had jinked the other way she would have lassoed him around her and they both would have stood up. It would have looked like the most miraculous catch of the century.

As it was, the horse jinked the other way and knocked her over but she managed to hold on, regather him and get back up on her feet.

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