Inothewayurthinkin takes the last fence in style at Cheltenham

Cromwell confident Inothewayurthinkin can return to form in Gold Cup

By Graham Clark

Horse Racing

Sun January 25, 2026 · 3h ago

Gavin Cromwell hopes Inothewayurthinkin can transfer his recent form at home to the track and turn his season around in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

The defending Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup winner has been underwhelming in both his starts this term, however Cromwell is optimistic of a change in fortunes in the Grade One.

After finishing fifth on his comeback in the John Durkan Memorial at Punchestown over an extended two miles three furlongs, a trip short of his best, the Walk In The Park gelding then finished last of those to complete in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown last month.

However, despite the eight-year-old’s recent reversals Cromwell is keeping his fingers crossed for a much more competitive showing from his stable star on Saturday in the extended three mile test, which he is a general 8/1 chance for.

Cromwell said: “We are on track for the Irish Gold Cup and he is going well at home. We are happy so hopefully we can see more of what we would like to see the next day.

“Christmas was a non event as he never rose a gallop and hopefully we will bounce back to what we know he is capable of here.

“His run at Christmas was a real head scratcher. He was back up in trip to three miles and he should have run much better than he did. He didn’t show any zest at any point of the race or jump well.

“From what I see at home I’m happy that we will see what we want from him, but it is a case of keeping our fingers crossed.”

And Cromwell admitted that the Randox Grand National was now being ‘strongly considered’ for Flooring Porter following his first start since September 2024 in the Betfair Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Although trailing home last of the four runners, Cromwell was pleased with what he saw from the popular 11-year-old in the Grade Two test, which was won by the Jimmy Mangan-trained Spillane’s Tower.

But while an outing at Aintree remains a big goal over fences, the triple Grade One scorer could revert back to the smaller obstacles before then for a tilt at the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Cromwell said: “We were really conscious that he hadn’t run for so long and if we set out and made the running, and he went too hard, it wouldn’t have been ideal on his first run back.

“He jumped a bit big over the first few, but he settled into it nicely at the back.. He got a bit tired up the straight as could be expected, but on the whole I was happy.

“He has that run under his belt now, and added into it, it does qualify him for the Grand National if we decide to go that route, which we are strongly considering.

“What we do in between I’m not sure. He has an entry in the Stayers’ Hurdle. We have plenty of things to consider, but the main thing is we have achieved what we wanted to achieve today and that we can now look forward to the future.”

Cromwell confident Inothewayurthinkin can return to form in Gold Cup

More from Sporting Life

Safer gambling