EDWULF’S BACK. . . A YEAR AFTER HE ALMOST DIED!

ONE of the most uplifting sights of the Gold Cup will be the horse that has walked straight off the cutting-room floor. In a script that would have embarrassed Hollywood, Edwulf returns a year after staggering to a dramatic halt towards the end of the National Hunt Chase. His suddenly uncoordinated stride, while lying second, might have been amusing in a drunken sailor, but not in a dangerously troubled horse. The vets moved in, hiding the scene behind green screens for 40 minutes. The first miracle was that Edwulf was still alive next day. The second was that he recovered speedily enough to return to his Kilkenny stables a fortnight later. The third, and most astonishing, was that he won the Irish Gold Cup last month as a 33-1 shot on only his second run since he was presumed dying. Recalling the scare yesterday, jockey Derek O’Connor admitted that the ‘fear factor’ set in. ‘He is coming back to his best now though,’ added O’Connor. ‘We thought it might be all over for him . . . but here we go again.’ Edwulf had a fit as he lay on the track and then went blind. His survival is a tribute to the Cheltenham vets who rushed to his aid. ‘It was an astonishing recovery,’ said head vet Liam Kearns. ‘The symptoms did not fit with heat stress. The neurological signs were more consistent with acute oxygen deficit to the brain. ‘Triathletes can experience it and it disturbs coordination.’ Thankfully, Kearns says there is no reason to fear a recurrence today or ever.