Aidan O'Brien expects Ryan Moore to return to competitive action in 2026

RETURN TO COMPETITIVE ACTION: Aidan O'Brien does not expect Ryan Moore to return to competitive action until next year. Picture: Healy Racing

Aidan O'Brien does not expect Ryan Moore to return to competitive action until next year.

Moore, who has been O'Brien's trusted man for the big occasions since 2015, has been out of action since early September.

He has already missed the Irish Champions Festival, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend in Paris and Future Champions Day at Newmarket.

Christophe Soumillon has proved an able deputy, partnering four Group One winners alone in the interim, and with the Breeders' Cup looming, O'Brien is likely to continue to call upon the Belgian in Moore's absence.

O'Brien said: "Ryan seems to be in good form and I think he's getting there. I would imagine it will be next year (before he rides again), I can't see any different.

"You'd have to talk to Ryan and he'll tell you more, but I'd imagine with the injury that he had he's going to have to give it time and Ryan will thinking long-term rather than short-term, I would imagine."