JAMIE Moore admits he still has nightmares about his final hurdle fall from Goshen at Cheltenham.
The pair infamously had the Triumph Hurdle at their mercy before disaster struck.
Goshen’s feet got tangled up and Moore, 35, was left head in hands on the deck as the Festival crowd let out one of its famous gasps.
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Since that afternoon in March, the country has been put in lockdown, racing suspended and Moore left with a broken back that put his career under threat.
But now back in the saddle, Moore is just hoping he can finally right some wrongs on his dad’s horse.
Goshen’s next chapter is set to get underway on Saturday afternoon in the International Hurdle back at Cheltenham.
Moore said: “I’d love for Goshen to come back and show everyone what he can do again.
“It was hard to take at the time as you’ve left so many people down. The owner, my dad, the people who have bet on him, it was horrible.
“And because of lockdown I didn’t get a chance to be able to put things right. Then of course it’s replayed everywhere! There was just no let up from it.
“Usually you can just go off in the next race you know and go and ride, but racing shut down three days later and that was that.
“I still kick myself, I think about it all the time and it does annoy me.
“But I know there’s nothing I can do, and I was just gutted for everyone involved, whether they’ve had a bet and owned and trained home.”
Moore was in tears as he made his way back to the weighing room at Cheltenham with the eyes of the world on him.
Dad and trainer Gary as well as owner Steve Packham jumped to his defence and even the harshest punter realised there was little else Moore could have done.
Moore said: “Everyone was very good at the time. But I probably got more texts from falling off than I would have if he’d won!
Everyone was very supportive and it’s obviously nice that people went out of their way to speak to me but, but I’ll be honest it didn’t help much at the time. I was still angry at myself.
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“I just remember coming down the hill and he was going so well, then coming to the last he went for a long stride. Then I was coming down on him and I thought that’s alright.
“But then he got his feet caught up and as soon as that happened it stopped his momentum and that’s when I got thrown.
“It was one of those freaky things and I’ve never seen it happen before and I’ll probably never see it happen again.
“Had I known I was ten lengths clear I would have steadied him right up into the hurdle and he wouldn’t have got his feet caught.”
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Despite the unseat, Goshen was made joint-favourite for this season’s Champion Hurdle such was the impression he made.
But after two tame runs on the flat and a couple of aborted returns punters have gone lukewarm on Gary Moore’s horse with Epatante the red-hot ante-post favourite.
But the Moore clan have still got faith in their star and just this week Gary called him the best he’s ever trained.
That’s quite the compliment when the father and son duo have teamed up with the likes of Champion Chase winner Sire De Grugy.
Moore added: “Goshen still hasn’t put a foot wrong over hurdles bar me falling off him at the worst possible time!
“We all know how good he can be and we will learn plenty this weekend.
“I’ll always look forward to riding him, it’s these horses that keep you going all the time.
“When you’re slaving away in the gym or trying to come back from injury it helps knowing you’ve got the likes of Goshen.”
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