Goshen in top shape following brilliant Kingwell return

All systems go for Champion Hurdle bid.

Gary Moore is counting down the days to the Unibet Champion Hurdle after Goshen returned to form in some style with a wide-margin victory in the Kingwell Hurdle.

The five-year-old accounted for Coral Hurdle and International Hurdle scorer Song For Someone by 22 lengths, as he blitzed the opposition at Wincanton on Saturday.

There is less than three weeks to the two-mile showpiece at the Cheltenham Festival, in which Goshen will bid to erase the frustration of his dramatic final-flight exit in the Triumph Hurdle last year when he had the race at his mercy.

“He’s come out of his race very well,” said West Sussex-based Moore on Wednesday.

“We’ll just do what we do and hopefully keep him on track for Cheltenham.

“I’ve done nothing with him. He’s just gone out for a jog around the place and nice easy exercise. He’s taking it all well and seems in good order. I’m very pleased with him.”

Stablemate Fifty Ball could well have booked his place at the Festival too, after beating all bar Soaring Glory in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Sunday.

The six-year-old put up a career-best performance in the one of the most competitive handicap hurdles on the calendar.

Moore has to decide which of his three entries – Sky Bet Supreme Novices’, Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle and County Hurdle – Fifty Ball will take up.

“It would have been better if he’d have won, but he could not do any more than run the race of his life,” he said.

“I did expect him to run a big race, but I didn’t know if he was up to that company. He was just beaten by maybe a better horse on the day.

“He’s in a couple of novices and he’s in a handicap at Cheltenham. He could well end up there, but I don’t know which race at the moment.”

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Cheltenham Festival Gary Moore Fifty Ball

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