Barry Geraghty tips: Mad, bad Goshen will be a natural over fences and my top Saturday picks

I RECKON it will be bish, bash, Gosh at Ascot.

There some cracking contests this afternoon — and first up on my must-watch list is GOSHEN (1.30) who makes his debut over fences.

PA

Geraghty is full of confidence for Goshen’s bow over fences[/caption]

I am confident he’ll take to the bigger obstacles like a duck to water, though the key to him is going right-handed.

For a jockey it’s very tricky if a horse jumps the other way because the more you try to correct them, the more they will try to resist it and therefore it gets progressively worse as the race goes on.

It’s not a character flaw or anything like that, it’s just one of those things that some horses do and as a jockey you just have to do what you can.

Goshen could be a very exciting novice chaser this season and this looks a good starting point to get his campaign underway.

The big one at Ascot is the London Gold Cup and I wasn’t surprised to see MAJOR DUNDEE (3.15) and OUR POWER fancied.

Both horses have very similar profiles being seven-year-olds, with good place form in big handicaps and who look to have plenty of scope to improve this season.

The highlight is the Charlie Hall Chase and it’s brilliant that both Bravemansgame and AHOY SENOR (3.35) take each other on.

I’m in the Ahoy Senor camp as I was very impressed with him at Aintree and I thought he did very well to get as close as he did to L’Homme Presse at Cheltenham.

My slight concern is that he was beaten when he unseated first time out last season and was also beaten first time up the previous season, too.

We all know that Bravemansgame will be well tuned by Paul Nicholls and that might end up being crucial, along with any potential improvement from his wind op.

Wetherby is a very fair track and I enjoyed riding there, though I didn’t always have the best luck!

It’s a big circuit and it offers a bit more of a stamina test than somewhere like Kempton, so I don’t see why the track won’t suit both horses equally.

Elsewhere on the card, I’m prepared to give SPORTING JOHN (3.00) another chance in the West Yorkshire Hurdle.

He’s quite a frustrating horse as he has bundles of ability but doesn’t always show it.

He’s always promised a lot and you have to remember he’s just a seven-year-old, so time is still on his side and with a good record fresh, I fancy him to get it done.

The other one I’ll have my eye on is MARTELLO SKY (2.25) in the mares’ hurdle who will be partnered by my fellow Sunracing columnist Bryony Frost.

This is a pretty tightly matched bunch on ratings, but I just thought Martello Sky might be open to a little bit more improvement being only a six-year-old and she has done nothing wrong yet.

Geraghty was speaking in association with 888sport.

FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org

---

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chases their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org