The ‘Baby-Faced’ Bandit Pietro Moran Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

[Wandering Eyes]

Apprentice jockeys are not supposed to win stakes races, let alone a $1-million race that is among the most coveted prizes in Canadian racing. But that's exactly what 20-year-old Pietro Moran, who has been dubbed “The Baby-Faced Bandit,” did last week, winning the King's Plate at Woodbine aboard the Kevin Attard-trained Mansetti (Collected). Moran, who is also the leading rider at Woodbine, has had quite the year. To discuss the King's Plate, his future, what it's like to ride against his father, David Moran, and other topics, Moran joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“I never would have thought that I'd get a King's Plate opportunity my first full year,” said Moran, who finished fourth in the 2024 King's Plate aboard Pierre (Tapiture) for Attard. “Im just so thankful for the opportunity. Obviously, Kevin Attard has been a huge supporter of my career and he got me started. And he's given me countless opportunities. My first ride in the Plate was a big opportunity and now I've had my first King's Plate winner in just my second year. I wouldn't be here without (Attard). I still can't believe it. To win the biggest race in Canada…I'm just still flying high.”

Moran said there was never a time when he didn't want to be a jockey.

“I think that even before I could walk or talk I wanted to be a jockey,” Moran said. “I always wanted to ride horses and be a jockey and I could never see myself doing anything else. I was always just so into the game and watching my dad ride. I was always working towards getting to ride races and slowly it became a reality.”

 

Moran is a lock to be named champion apprentice in Canada and the favorite to win the Eclipse Award as the leading apprentice in North America. He's hoping there will be many more accolades to come.

“I would love to be somewhere in the States,” he said when asked where he hoped to be in five years. “Obviously, my dream is to be able to ride in all the big races, the graded stakes. I'd like to be able to get on really good horses every year and ride in races like the Derby and the Breeders' Cup. That's the goal.”

The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}, who got a 104 Beyer figure when winning the GI E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST TV,  the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, the KTOB and XBTV.com, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewed the E.P. Taylor and the win by Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, which pushed her to the head of the class when it comes to the Eclipse Award race. Saturday's card at Saratoga, which is topped by the GI Travers and four other Grade I stakes, was a major topic of conversation. Can they beat Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the Travers? The team doesn't see that happening.

Click for the either the audio or video version of the podcast.

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