Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs has failed to secure a hat-trick of year-on-year wins at Prestbury Park – to the chagrin of one punter who staked £50,000 on him to win.
It should have been a fifth win of the day for legendary trainer Willie Mullins today after Jasmin De Vaux stormed to victory in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at 3.20.
But instead, the odds-on favourite couldn’t match the pace of the Grand National favourite after losing to outsider Inothewayurthinkin, trained by Gavin Cromwell, which had odds of 15/2.
And it wasn’t to be for one punter who had put £50,000 on Galopin Des Champs to win – hoping to secure an easy £25,000 profit.
Racing journalist Simon Nott shared an image of one man’s betting slip showing he had placed the startling wager on the favourite.
He captioned it: ‘It’s Cheltenham Gold Cup day alright.’
One unlucky punter had staked £50,000 on favourite Galopin Des Champs to win the 4pm Gold Cup at Cheltenham
Mullins’ thoroughbred struggled with the water and the early jumps, as well as Ahoy Senor taking a tumble.
But together with jockey Paul Townend he closed the gap within the last few hurdles – until Iknowthewayurthinkin took off after the last leap.
Cromwell told Racing TV: ‘I’m absolutely speechless. I was worried about the pace of the race on the better ground but he was only just hanging in there all the time, you know. He’s a very good horse.’
Jockey Mark Walsh: ‘He jumped brilliant… everything went very smooth and a lovely position. I noticed Paul’s horse wasn’t carrying him and wasn’t jumping so I thought, “we could have a little show here”.’
Odds for Iknowthewayurthinkin at Aintree have been slashed following his unexpected victory at Cheltenham – from 7/1 to as little as 5/2 with some bookies.
