Gary Moore 'hopeful of a big run' from Goshen on first handicap start

The enigmatic Goshen is set for a new challenge after Gary Moore opted to send his Grade 2-winning hurdler into handicap company for the first time over jumps in Saturday’s Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot.

The five-year-old, who won over course and distance as a juvenile hurdler before infamously unseating Jamie Moore with the 2020 Triumph Hurdle at his mercy, made his seasonal reappearance at the Berkshire track in the Grade 2 Coral Hurdle last month.

Although he was 11 lengths behind the winner Buzz, the form looks strong with Nicky Henderson’s Cesarewitch winner now favourite for the Grade 1 Howden Long Walk Hurdle, the feature race of the two-day meeting.

Guard Your Dreams and Song For Someone, the other two horses to finish ahead of Goshen that day, went on to take first and second in the Grade 2 International Hurdle at Cheltenham last Saturday.

Goshen (far left) finishes fourth in last month's red-hot Coral HurdleCredit: Mark Cranham

Although carrying top weight off a mark of 153 presents a stiff task for Goshen, his runaway win in the Kingwell Hurdle came on his second hurdles start of last season and Moore is hoping for significant improvement from the Coral Hurdle.

He said: "The plan is to run Goshen this weekend. We've spoken about the Christmas Hurdle, but I think the ground is going to be more suitable for him at Ascot than Kempton.

"He came out of the Coral Hurdle really well and we've been very pleased with him since. He is pretty ground dependent and hopefully the ground stays as it is.

"Giving a lot of weight away in a handicap such as this is not going to be easy but he should be very competitive off this mark. I would be very hopeful of a big run.

"We’ll go to Ascot, see what happens, and then we can take a view on Kempton afterwards. It's unlikely he'll do both but we’ll take it one race at a time."

Goshen is a top-priced 12-1 in a market headed by 4-1 shot No Ordinary Joe, who was third in the Greatwood Hurdle. West Cork, the Greatwood winner, is an 11-2 chance.

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