Moore not getting carried away as Goshen makes Flat return

Gelding suffered Cheltenham Festival heartbreak in March.

Gary Moore is keen not to get too far ahead of himself as Goshen makes his eagerly-anticipated return at Haydock on Saturday.

The exciting four-year-old has not been seen in competitive action since his final-flight exit when apparently set for a wide-margin victory in the JCB Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Goshen had won six in a row before that – three races on the Flat and three over hurdles – and is joint-favourite with Epatante for next year’s Champion Hurdle with several bookmakers.

Given he is rated 157 over obstacles, the Authorized gelding will be a red-hot favourite to make the most of what appears a lenient Flat mark of 88 in the Close Brothers Premium Finance Handicap, but Moore is taking nothing for granted.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him run. He seems in good heart – let’s hope he’s trained on,” said the Sussex-based trainer.

While a return to Cheltenham next March is at the top of the Goshen’s agenda, Moore is keen to give him another run on the Flat, should all go according to plan this weekend. Interestingly, he holds an entry on the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot next month.

Moore added: “This looks a good place for him to start. We’ll see how he gets on, but I’m hoping to run him again on the Flat before he goes back over hurdles, definitely.

“That (Long Distance Cup) looks very ambitious. We’ll have to see how he runs and what mark he gets afterwards – he might go up, or he might get dropped!

“I certainly hope he’ll improve for the run – it’s not all about Saturday.”

Goshen is set to face just five rivals in the hands of Hector Crouch, with the weights headed by Alan King’s On To Victory.

Byron Flyer (Ian Williams), Indianapolis (James Given), Hochfeld (Mark Johnston) and Stargazer (Phil Kirby) complete the field.

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