3 minute read

All eyes will be on Gary Moore's stable stalwart Goshen on Sunday when he lines up at Fontwell in a bid to give his trainer his third Betgoodwin National Spirit Hurdle.

A year ago the now-retired Joshua Moore partnered his father's Botox Has to success in this Grade Two contest when beating race regular Brewin'upastorm, adding to the Moore family's first success in this renewal when Camping Ground prevailed in 2017

Now it is the turn of fan favourite Goshen to uphold family tradition, with Jamie Moore given the chance to write his name on the roll of honour.

The unseasonal dry spell means conditions will once again be against the ever-popular seven-year-old, who also has to tackle his old nemesis of racing left-handed. But encouragement is taken from two high-quality hurdling appearances this term, which are sandwiched by a pair of lacklustre outings over the larger obstacles.

He surged clear of the reopposing Brewin'upastorm to record an eight-and-a-half-length victory in the Ascot Hurdle in November before backing it up with a strong second behind Paisley Park in the rearranged Long Walk Hurdle on Boxing Day and his handler believes Goshen deserves plenty of credit for the way he has acquitted himself, despite being yet to race on his favoured ground.

"He's had a brilliant year. He's done really well and on not one day has he had the ground in his favour yet," said Moore.

"The trip will be fine for him. It's the wrong way round, but there's just not that many options for him. He's in the long-distance hurdle race at Cheltenham, but I feel that's a waste of time.

"There's no point leaving him in the stable and there's not that many runners either so he has got to take his chance."

Sceau Royal returns to hurdles having failed to feature in the Dublin Chase earlier this month and he will be looking to reverse Elite Hurdle form with Knappers Hill, who was two and a half lengths clear of Alan King's consistent veteran when they met at Wincanton earlier in the campaign.

Paul Nicholls ' charge has seen his form slightly tail off since his early-season heroics, but is proven over this trip and hails from a yard that is always well represented in this £80,000 contest.

Brewin'Upastorm won this in 2021 before going down by just a head when defending his crown last year and Olly Murphy will be hoping his 10-year-old enjoys the tight turns of the Sussex track for a third time.

"He's come back from a severe wind operation but seems in good form and galloped well this week," said the Warren Chase handler.

"He will just improve for whatever he does at Fontwell as it's been a bit of a tight squeeze to get him ready for this race, but we're looking forward to running him and if he comes back to his old self, there's no reason why he can't run really well.

"He probably should be two from two in the race, he was unlucky in it last year and we're looking forward to running him in the race again."

The select quintet going to post is rounded off by Dan Skelton's Proschema, who was a clear-cut winner of the West Yorkshire Hurdle in the autumn, but was pulled up on his next start in Newbury's Long Distance Hurdle.