Mike Cattermole on Goshen, Mishrif and Dashel Drasher

GOSHEN SUCH A TONIC

He’s back! And how!

I must admit, I don’t think any of us were expecting that.

The real Goshen, the relentless galloping machine, could not have laid down a more impressive marker for the Champion Hurdle after his romp in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on Saturday.

There cannot be anybody in the game who was not delighted and lifted to see it. After his desperately unlucky fate in the Triumph Hurdle, I’d say he’s developed a bigger following from that than he would have done if he’d gone and won the race.

Part of the reason is that Goshen is trained by Gary Moore, as popular and as down to earth a man as you will meet. It is rare to meet a man whose successes would not be begrudged by anybody. It’s a similar thing with Jamie. They are just good guys.

Goshen had lost his way and we were all hoping that, one day, he would recover his best form. But I, for one, wasn’t sure he would.

However, Gary just loves this horse and would have left no stone unturned in getting him right. By golly, he must have woken up on Sunday morning with quite a spring in his step.

Defeating last year’s Kingwell winner, Song For Someone, by an easy 22 lengths puts him bang there in the Champion picture. The fact that in Goshen’s absence the runner-up would have won the race by 19 lengths from the 156-rated Navajo Pass surely tells you something about how good a performance it was.

In the past, Goshen has looked on occasions a tricky ride. On Saturday, he was keen early on but he wasn’t fighting Jamie and looking uncomfortable. It was the better type of keenness, that of a healthy and pain-free horse.

The two supermares Epatante and Honeysuckle now have a real fight on their hands next month.

DASHEL DRASHER WIN A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Jeremy Scott has trained some nice horses in his time but the wonderfully named Dashel Drasher, who he bred himself, was his first Grade 1 winner over fences in Saturday’s Ascot Chase.

Scott gave up dairy farming 13 years ago to concentrate full time on training horses from his Somerset base and Dashel Drasher is now unbeaten in four visits to Ascot.

“Dashel Drasher”, a great name isn’t it? Certainly a name to get noticed and he will no doubt develop an even greater following now.

So often, a smaller, family-run yard like Scott’s barely gets a look in at the Grade 1 table and congratulations are due too to Matt Griffiths who was notching up his first win at the highest level.

Griffiths is also the partner of the unbeaten Bear Ghylls, trained by Nicky Martin on Exmoor, who heads off to the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham next month.

Meanwhile, Scott’s celebrated Somerset neighbour, Paul Nicholls now has some work to do with the brilliant but flawed Cyrname who was pulled up on Saturday with a breathing issue.

For much of the first circuit on Saturday, Cyrname looked in fine form and jumping superbly but the engine cut out so quickly, which it would if you can’t breathe.

He had a first wind operation before his defeat of Altior. They don’t always last forever. Let’s hope Nicholls can work something out and we see the real Cyrname back soon.

SKELTON BROTHERS FLYING

Dan and Harry Skelton, who together celebrated a treble at Ascot on Saturday, have developed into a formidable family partnership, the likes of which we have not seen before at such a high level. I believe that the brothers don’t get the credit they deserve.

We have always known that Dan could train, having served a long apprenticeship with Paul Nicholls. Harry too was always a very decent rider but he seems to have moved up a gear this season.

Like AP McCoy used to do on a regular basis, Harry has got horses doing what he wants them to do, he is making their minds up for them.

His decisive move on Captain Chaos by kicking on the home turn, having won the duel with Cobolobo, was the reason he won the Swinley Chase. Regal Encore got a real head of steam up and was in front two strides past the line but not where it mattered.

Then, on Shannon Bridge, Harry was similarly aggressive on the home bend and again that was a decisive move. He is not afraid to go and is trusting his judgement – and his brother’s training.

Harry’s confidence is sky high right now and his first win of the afternoon on Midnight River showed it.

Approaching two out, no sooner had Nico De Boinville thought of moving to challenge between horses on Harrys inside, Harry had clocked it and took his mount to the right, quite legitimately, to block his path and forcing Nico to switch inside.

It was both subtle and brilliant and probably made the difference.

DAVID EGAN NOW WORLD CLASS

Being the son of John Egan and Sandra Hughes - daughter of Dessie - and nephew of Richard Hughes, David Egan was bred to be a top jockey.

His retainer with Prince Faisal reaped rich rewards on Saturday evening when the John Gosden-trained Mishriff won the Saudi Cup, the world’s richest race and a first prize of just short of £7.3m.

It was an important race for Prince Faisal, being a prominent member of the Saudi Arabian royal family (he is the fifth son of the king), who will be eternally grateful to Egan and Gosden who both delivered on cue.

Mishriff is wonderfully versatile as well as being brilliant and has any sort of target open to him now, whether dirt or turf and, rarely, it doesn’t matter whether the green stuff is heavy or good to firm.

His campaign will be a fascinating one.

I am pleased that a British-trained horse won the race but I can’t help feeling that these incredibly valuable races are a bit of a contrivance in a time of austerity.

Mishriff is a son of promising young stallion Make Believe whose stats received something of a disproportionate boost in Riyadh.

UNCOMFORTABLE TIME FOR SHEIKH MOHAMMED

Most of us in racing regard Sheikh Mohammed with awe, a man with bottomless pockets of cash and a visionary who has invested billions into the bloodstock industry.

Racing horses is a passion for him in what is undoubtedly an extraordinarily full life for one who is also the ruler of the state of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

An immensely proud man, he has turned his beloved country into an important business hub and one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations.

However, the plight of his daughter Princess Latifa, who claims to be held as a prisoner by her father after her attempted escape from Dubai three years ago – as revealed in Monday’s Panorama “The Missing Princess” – must be the sort of publicity he abhors.

Certainly, these further revelation of difficulties with his family life over the past two years, following his former wife Princess Haya’s fleeing to London with the couple’s two young children, has thrown the spotlight onto the Sheikh in a very different way.

Monday’s programme certainly made for uncomfortable and disturbing viewing. Princess Latifa’s friends are genuinely worried about her safety after the secret video messages she was able to send them suddenly ceased.

The human rights agency at the United Nations has now asked for proof this week that she is still alive.

It’s a very serious and sad story concerning racing’s most powerful man but which has received little or no coverage in the racing press.

Of course, none of us know the complete narrative about this unfortunate state of affairs and indeed will probably never know.

All we can do is hope for a happy outcome for all involved.