Royal Watch News

Mike Tindall's racehorse a Gold Cup contender

Mar 12, 2013, 12:02 GMT

Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips

Mike Tindall's racehorse is a shock contender for Friday's ­(15.03.13) £550,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The rugby ace - who is married to Britian's Zara Phillips - was branded 'an idiot' by his spouse when he first bid for and won Monbeg Dude at a charity auction, but it is proving to be on fine form.

Mike made a joke £12,000 bid for the horse at the auction and had to persuade rugby friends James Simpson-Daniel and Nicky Robinson and trainer Michael Scudamore to all buy a stake.

Michael and his team have put lots of effort into training the horse up, and he is now a contender for the big race on Friday.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: 'We need a few of the top boys not to perform but our horse will keep galloping and jockey Paul Carberry's a genius.

'Zara will be there for the race and the three rugby players are hoping to make it after training - I think we'll all be very nervous.'

Monbeg Dude is at odds of 66-1 to win the Gold Cup, the highlight of the four-day horse racing festival. The horse has already had three wins to its name, including the Welsh Grand National in January.

Explaining how he accidentally bought the horse, Mike has said: 'I only went for a bite to eat and a night out.

'No horse had gone for less than £28,000 so I thought my first bid of £10,000 was pretty safe, likewise when I upped it to £12,000. I knew nothing about the horse, hadn't checked the brochure and couldn't even see the Dude, as I was sitting with my back to the sale ring.'