Superstar four year old Goshen has all but been ruled out of the Yorkshire Ebor Handicap by his trainer Gary Moore, as the ante-post favourite is facing a race against time to be eligible for the contest.
Goshen was a model of consistency during the jumps season coming from the flat and raced three times over timber and he went on to win his events by a combined 68 lengths.
He looked certain to take extend his unbeaten run in the Grade One Triumph Hurdle on the Friday of the Cheltenham festival but fell at the final flight when 10 lengths clear.
He has shown on his starts on both the flat and the jumps that he has freak like ability over extended trips and still being on a mark of 88 on the flat he could be very dangerous.
The Champion Hurdle was made a clear target for next year's Cheltenham festival but before then Moore was looking at the Ebor but due to the ongoing crisis in the world it looks as though those plans have been halted.
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Goshen looks set for a brilliant JCB Triumph Hurdle victory, but it's Burning Victory for Ireland in a quite remarkable conclusion at @CheltenhamRaces #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/fHIulH3Vik
Moore gave Goshen a break during the pandemic but he has now been back in training close to three weeks and while he could still have a couple of spins on the level before heading down the Champion Hurdle route, an outing on the Knavesmire in the Ebor looks very far fetched now.
(Credit AtTheRaces) Moore said: “I don’t know where we’re going to go with him, to be honest – it will be ground dependent, anyway. I would have loved to have got him ready for Royal Ascot last week if I’d known the ground would end up the way it did.”
Moore was surprised to see his stable star being a well supported favourite for the Ebor saying: "I’ve no idea why – he’s only rated 88, so he wouldn’t get in for a start.
“You wouldn’t want to go there without a run anyway, and I can’t see him being ready in time because he only came back to me on June 1 – I definitely wouldn’t want to rush him.
“I think we’d like to give him two or three runs on the Flat and then go back over hurdles. He won’t be having many runs over hurdles anyway, because there aren’t that many races for him, whereas at least he’s still well enough handicapped on the Flat.”