Niall Houlihan to deputise on Goshen at Ascot after Jamie Moore breaks ribs and vertebra in fall

Niall Houlihan will deputise on Goshen for his defence of Saturday's Coral Ascot Hurdle (2.05) after a nasty fall from Mi Sueno at Lingfield on Tuesday ruled out regular partner Jamie Moore.

A fracture of his T7 vertebra was described as "stable" by Josh Moore, who added that two broken ribs and a fractured nose had left his brother "a bit banged up after a good kicking, but okay".

Jamie Moore has ridden Goshen on all 19 of his jumps starts but will be replaced by Houlihan in Saturday's £100,000 Grade 2.

Before Houlihan was booked to ride Goshen at declaration time on Thursday, trainer Gary Moore said: "I don't know who will be riding him just yet, but it won't be Jamie. He's as good as can be expected."

On Goshen's chances of repeating last year's win, when he thumped even-money favourite Brewin'upastorm by eight and a half lengths, Moore added: "If he runs as well as he did last year he'd have every chance. Last year we were just worried about whether Constitution Hill was going to turn up, but thankfully he didn't run.

"On paper it's no tougher than it was last year. We could do with the ground a bit softer, but he's in very good order. When he gets his conditions, right-handed with a bit of cut, he's very consistent."

The chances of Goshen getting softer ground were talked down by Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels, who said: "We are good to soft, but the likelihood is by the weekend we'll have a mixture of good and good to soft because we haven't had much rain in the last week and we've a dry forecast, so I can see it drying a little bit.

"We probably didn't get as much rain as other parts of the country in late October and early November, and we've had a pretty dry last ten days. We're probably drier than a lot of the rest of the country, I'm not sure many places are expecting good ground over the weekend."

Jamie Moore joins his brother Ryan on the sidelines. Ryan Moore was stood down after unseating coming out of the stalls at Kyoto at the weekend and will be replaced by Hollie Doyle aboard 2022 winner Vela Azul in Sunday's Japan Cup.

Coral Ascot Hurdle (2.05 Ascot, Saturday)

Coral: 13-8 Goshen, 3 Theatre Glory, 5 Blueking D'Oroux, Sceau Royal, Strong Leader, 10 Crambo, 14 Might I, 16 Shanroe, 33 Hardy Bloke

Read more

'We can go bigger and better' - Tingle Creek an option for Boothill if Fry's chaser can star again at Ascot 

Harry Cobden: I'm disappointed not to ride Bravemansgame but Paul knows what he's doing 

Cieren Fallon facing lengthy spell out injured after stalls incident 

Subscribe to Racing Post Members' Club Ultimate Monthly and get 50% off your first three months!

Available to new subscribers purchasing Members' Club Ultimate Monthly using code WELCOME2023. First three payments will be charged at £19.98, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter. To cancel please contact us at least seven days before subscription is due to renew.