Cromwell believes Gold Cup hero is beginning to bloom

Gavin Cromwell believes Inothewayurthinkin will take all the beating if he can return to his “A-game” in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Inothewayurthinkin halted Galopin Des Champs’ hat-trick bid at Prestbury Park last year but has been out of sorts so far this season, being well beaten in both the John Durkan and Savills Chase before falling at the final fence when beaten in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown earlier this month.

However, Cromwell is confident the spring will bring out the best in his charge and has his fingers crossed he can get to Cheltenham in a similar condition to 12 months ago.

Cromwell said on William Hill’s Inside Track: Ireland podcast: “Inothewayurthinkin did a bit of work after racing in Fairyhouse last week and that went very well.

“It’s difficult to know why he’s unperformed so much this season, but I suppose the yard hasn’t had the season we would have wished for. Horses have under performed and he’s the one that’s really highlighted it.

“Christmas was a disaster. He didn’t show up at all and we were on the back foot after that. At the Dublin Racing Festival he had run an okay race down to the second last. He got a bit tired up the straight, but I didn’t mind that so much – it was just a disaster when he fell. Since that, he hasn’t missed a beat. He got up from that fall and hasn’t turned back.

“He’s one more bit of work to do before he goes to Cheltenham, so hopefully that’ll be good. We haven’t done anything differently with him, but you can see his coat has come now.

“When you look back at his history, he seems to be a real spring horse. Maybe that’s the case. I don’t think he’d want it heavy, but he wouldn’t want good ground too. He’s not the quickest horse and I wouldn’t want him taken off his feet.

“If Inothewayurthinkin is on his A-game, he’s going to take plenty of beating. He was a good winner of the race last year and hopefully we can get him there in the same condition.”

Meanwhile, Cromwell confirmed Flooring Porter has been ruled out of the Stayers’ Hurdle and the Randox Grand National.

He added: “Flooring Porter has met a setback and is not going to make Cheltenham or the Grand National. We’ve just met a speed bump in the road en route to the spring festivals. He’s going to be fine, but this has just set us back.”