OH MY GOSH – JAMIE TO EARN REDEMPTION
CHAMP’S NEWBURY JUMPING PASSED THE TEST FOR GOLD CUP BID, SAYS NICO
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3 1 GOSHEN 2 EPATANTE 3 HONEYSUCKLE
GOSHEN, so cruelly denied victory in the Triumph Hurdle 12 months ago, is ripe for redemption.
Success seemed assured for the Gary Moore-trained son of Authorized as he galloped to the final flight of the curtain-raiser to the 2020 Gold Cup card.
However, with an unassailable lead, Goshen conspired to clip his own heels, hitting the last obstacle and giving the trainer’s son Jamie no chance of staying on board, as Burning Victory profited to beat Aspire Tower by 10 lengths.
The path back has not been smooth, as Goshen followed autumn defeats on the Flat at Haydock and Goodwood by finishing stone last of 10 in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham in midDecember.
At that point – atrial fibrillation was initially mooted as a possible cause of the five-year-old’s
no-show – Cheltenham restitution appeared a forlorn hope.
But a doom-laden picture was changed dramatically in the Grade 2 Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton in February. Starting the 100-30 second favourite in a field of six,
Goshen thundered clear of International Hurdle winner – and reigning Kingwell title-holder – Song For Someone to win by 22 lengths.
At his best Goshen very hard to beat.
Twin threats come from the mares Epatante and Honeysuckle.
Epatante won the Champion Hurdle in style from Sharjah last year and is entitled to the utmost respect, despite a shock Christmas Hurdle defeat by Silver Streak at Kempton in December.
The same must be said for the unbeaten Honeysuckle, who last month landed a second Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown by 10 lengths from Abacadabras with Sharjah third and Saldier – who like James Du Berlais and Not So Sleepy is up against it here – last of six. is
THEY say there’s a fine line between genius and insanity.
But Nico de Boinville had every faith in boss Nicky Henderson’s “crazy” plan to prepare Champ for Friday’s WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The master of the famed Seven Barrows stables, high above Lambourn, admitted his “head was on the chopping block” as he revealed his intention to give JP McManus’s nine-year-old his Festival prep in the two-mile Betfair Game Spirit Chase at Newbury last month.
After all, Champ, (right) famously named after the incomparable
Sir AP McCoy, had needed nearly every yard of three miles to land the race now run as the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last March.
“I know the guv’nor told the press it was a ‘crazy’ preparation, but he hasn’t trained some of the greatest National Hunt horses of all time for nothing,” reflected de Boinville.
“He had talked it over with JP, and between them they were agreed that it was the right thing to do, so who am I to argue?”
His triumph at the 2020 Festival was achieved in spite of Champ’s jumping technique rather than because of it. And those closest to the son of King’s Theatre knew it was this part of Champ’s game that needed to improve.
“Champ is a horse of exceptional ability, but his jumping has needed work,” admitted de Boinville.
“He did a lot of work schooling with Henrietta Knight, a three-time Gold Cup winner with Best Mate and one of the most respected names in the game. The Game Spirit was a crucial part of Champ’s education, because it was a race where he needed to be able to jump at two-mile pace. “If he’d run in the Denman Chase over three miles, he could have cantered round and we might not have learned much.
“The Game Spirit was different. If he could jump well against two-milers, it would be a case of ‘mission accomplished’. “He was tired when he made a mistake at the final fence but apart from that he was flawless and to finish second to a Grade 1 winner in