The horrifying moment a vet is sent flying into the air by Cheltenham Gold Cup winner

This was the moment a vet was sent flying by Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin at the Cheltenham Festival on Friday.

The vet was checking the near hind leg of the JP McManus-owned gelding when the horse kicked out at the vet, who was sent flying to the ground.

Thankfully, ITV presenter Alice Plunkett, who witnessed the incident happen from close quarters, reported the vet to be okay.

Inothewayurthinkin, trained by Gavin Cromwell, was a shock 15/2 winner as he denied 8-13 favourite Galopin Des Champs a historic third successive Gold Cup.

The horse's participation in the race was somewhat of an afterthought, with connections dishing out £25,000 to supplement the gelding for the blue riband event.

“At the end of the season last year we thought he had a chance of being a Gold Cup horse,” said Cromwell.

“We started off the season in the John Durkan over two and a half miles and things just happened too quick for him, but he actually ran well to a point and just got tired.

“We went to Leopardstown at Christmas and he improved from that and we went to the Dublin Racing Festival and he was only beaten seven lengths, staying on well.

“Like last season, it takes a long time to get him fit and he’s obviously a spring horse. We felt he’d progressed a lot since the Irish Gold Cup, he takes his racing well and he did a fantastic bit of work just over a week ago, so after that it was all systems go to supplement him.”

While respectful of Galopin Des Champs’ prowess, Cromwell insists he felt his charge was lining up with a winning chance.

He added: “The cards probably didn’t fall when I didn’t enter him in the race as I just thought it was going to come too soon in his career and we’d be better waiting until next year, but he ran such a big race at the Dublin Racing Festival, he’d come forward since that and we decided to have a go.

“I suppose there is pressure when you supplement, but I think on this occasion I had such confidence in the horse that it wasn’t such a worry or a concern.

“Galopin Des Champs was a dual Gold Cup winner, but we were coming here to try to win the race – we weren’t coming to pick up the pieces and place money. I genuinely thought he had a good chance and thankfully I was right.

“To have a runner in the Gold Cup is fantastic and to win it is unbelievable. I was a farrier for 20-plus years and I suppose for the latter few years of it I was a full-time farrier and a part-time trainer, and as we got busier it reversed roles and eventually I had to give up the farrier job.

“It’s well publicised I was Gordon Elliott’s farrier and the closest I was getting to a Gold Cup was shoeing Don Cossack!”

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