Goshen owner: The main thing is he's alright and we live to fight another battle
By Andy Stephens
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
Watch how Goshen and the luckless Jamie Moore came to grief in a remarkable Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday
They say you never forget your first. And owner Steve Packham never will.
Goshen was his first runner at the Cheltenham Festival on Friday and the relentless galloper was on course for a runaway win approaching the final flight.
The packed stands roared their delight. The 5-2 favourite was about to get many of them off to a flyer and leave those who insisted he was a right-handed track bully with a bloodied nose.
Packham's pride and joy was motoring further and further clear, victory a formality provided the final flight was negotiated.
But then calamity came calling. Moore saw a stride, Goshen didn't. The jockey sat the resulting error but, on landing, Goshen's feet became momentarily tangled and his back legs skidded.
The sudden loss of acceleration unbalanced Moore and, try as he might to cling on, gravity was no SP returned to send him crashing to the soggy Cotwsold turf with a dull thud. Watch how it all unfolded from various angles above.
Goshen and Moore part company (Focusonracing)
Packham was as stunned as anyone, but philosophical. "The noise in the stand when he fell was incredible, but there we go," he said.
"It's a massive thing to me just to have a runner at Cheltenham, as we have been coming for 30 years. I've lived and dreamt every scenario over the last month, from falling at the first, falling at the last, winning - so it has not completely surprised me.
"The main thing is that he is alright and hopefully we can live to fight another battle.
"He has got some engine. His cruising speed is so good. He is not flashy at home and if you saw him work you wouldn't know him from a three-mile chaser, but he just has a massive cruising speed.
"He comes into his own when he is at the track."
Moore reacts to his late exit (Focusonracing)
A dejected Moore stood slumped against the running rail, whip in one hand and helmet in the other. He got a kicking trying to keep the partnership intact but was relatively unscathed, at least on the outside. Inside, he was hurting like hell.
He is one of the unsung journeyman jockeys of the weighing room. A measure of his popularity is that when he guided Sire De Grugy to Champion Chase glory a few years back, his colleagues all came out of the weighing-room to form a guard of honour.
Here, Moore must have wished a hole would appear and that Prestbury Park would swallow him up. AP McCoy tried to console him. So did David Casey. But to no avail.
His only other ride at the meeting was pulled up and his last winner was on February 8. It is tough gig for any rider when you don't have rides for Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Nicky Henderson to rely on.
This day will haunt him for a while, but if there is any consolation he and his father, Gary, plus Packham, clearly have a Champion Hurdle contender on their hands for next season.
Moore Snr was left to have the final say. "I was thinking steady, steady, steady (coming to the last), but he [the horse] got it wrong. Worse things happen, you know.
"He's absolutely fine, he's in a great place and he's a proper racehorse. I think he's very, very good.
"Jamie took it badly and he took a fair kicking as well. He will get over it - he has to, because tomorrow's another day isn't it?"
He has one ride at Kempton on Saturday, then another at Fontwell. Both have solid claims, and few folk in racing would begrudge him having a double.
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