Ralph Moreton was born at Keele Park in Staffordshire on August 4, 1873, and, having left school, went straight into the stables of John Porter. His apprenticeship at an end, he rode as second jockey to the yard.
Unfortunately, his opportunities as a rider were few and far between owing to the brilliance of Porter’s stable jockey, the incomparable Mornington Cannon.
Eventually, after a forgettable few rides, he put his dreams of being a jockey to one side, relinquishing his licence in 1902 and becoming John Porter’s head lad. When Porter retired in 1905 he helped to establish Ralph Moreton at Park Farm, Upper Lambourn, where he began training at the start of 1906 with a string of 11 horses and would remain there until his death.
His first winner was Plumb Centre in the Great Northern Handicap at York. Although his string rarely rose above 15, he had considerable success for his owners, several of whom, such as the Duke of Westminster and Fred Gretton, were previously with John Porter.
His major victories for Gretton included the Chester Vase in 1911 with Maaz, Royal Hunt Cup with Varzy by a short head in 1922, Chester Cup in 1924 with Rugeley, at 10/1, and Coventry Stakes in 1924 with Iceberg.
By 1926 he was training 26 horses and won that year’s Gimcrack Stakes with Bold Archer, ridden by Harry Wragg.
Predominately a Flat trainer, he also trained a few National Hunt horses with some success.
Ralph Moreton died in a Newbury nursing home on Sunday, March 29, 1931, after having been in a coma for several days. He left £1,476.
He had had a long and successful career on the Turf and was much respected by those who knew him.
Additional information sourced from ‘A Biographical Dictionary of Racehorse Trainers in Berkshire 1850-1939’ by David Boyd, published in 1998.