The horrifying moment Cheltenham Gold Cup winner floors vet with flying kick

Racing fans were horrified after a vet was sent flying by a kick from Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin.

In the aftermath of the 15-2 shot’s triumph over the strongly fancied Galopin Des Champs, the Gavin Cromwell trained seven-year-old was tended to by course staff.

As one vet knelt down to examine the horse’s back leg, Inothewayurthinkin kicked out and sent the lady hurtling to the turf.

Viewers watching ITV’s coverage were deeply concerned but were later comforted when presenter Alice Plunkett provided a positive update on the condition of the lady hurt in the incident.

While there was a measure of sympathy for the victim, many fans questioned the wisdom of bending down behind a horse who had just won such an exhilarating race.

‘Race horse is high intensity and still revved up, not a good idea to mess with its injured leg in that state,’ said one racing expert on X. ‘Like others have said, let it calm down back in the stall and then examine. If you’ve ever seen a horse kick out to the side you know she could have really been injured.’

Another added: ‘A vet should know better than doing something this stupid. The horse needed to be unsaddled and cooled off before checking a cut on his back leg.’

‘You get it in a stable, cool it, assess its temperament watch its body language before going anywhere near its rear legs,’ said another horse expert. You don’t have various people around it, and crowds, speak with its trainer, stable hand whoever knows it. Watch some horse training videos woman.’

Bookmakers, meanwhile, could breathe a sigh of relief when Inothewayurthinkin’s defeat of Galopin Des Champs rescued them from a significant payout.

Odds-on shots have seemed cursed all week, with the short-priced favourites of each day’s feature race meeting with defeat to ensure bookmakers’ satchels remained full.

It seemed as though the tide could be turning on the final day of the meeting, however, as Galopin Des Champs prepared to bid for a third Gold Cup and his success considered by many to be a formality.

Poniros winning the JCB Triumph Hurdle at 100-1 was an unexpected boon for bookmakers, but Kargese and Dinoblue both winning as favourites favoured bettors instead.

Galopin Des Champs was the horse with the power to land a real blow for punters, but Inothewayurthinkin stood in the way and his 15-2 victory was a welcome upset for the pitches.

Coral’s David Stevens said: ‘From the moment the Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill took a tumble in Tuesday’s big race, this has been a Cheltenham Festival to forget for backers of odds-on shots, but as bookies we knew that could all change on the last day, which is always the biggest betting day of the week.

‘Wins for Kargese, Dinoblue and Jasmin De Vaux – all trained by the maestro Willie Mullins – had us sweating going into the Gold Cup, when a third win in the race for the odds-on favourite Galopin Des Champs would have well and truly wiped the smiles off our faces, but victory for Inothewayurthinkin meant that once again this week we escaped a hefty payout, and we end this Festival looking forward to doing it all again in 2026.’

Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: ‘Gold Cup day was looking like one for the punters with so many Willie Mullins winners being toasted in the Cheltenham stands. But with Galopin Des Champs adding to the list of shockwave results, we have to say it’s the bookies who struck gold over the week.’

Inothewayurthinkin was supplemented for the Gold Cup, but prior to his late inclusion the Grand National was his big target and he was well-fancied after the weights were revealed.

He has inevitably shortened even further in the market, to 5-2 from 7-1 with Betfair, with spokesperson Barry Orr saying: ‘What a performance from the supplemented Inothewayurthinkin, who is now 5-2 from 7-1 for the Grand National, and set to go off the shortest priced favourite in modern times.’

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