It was a win that charmed the world of National Hunt racing.

Almost 25 years ago to the day, Senor El Betrutti provided one of the big upsets of the racing year as he stormed to victory in the Murphy’s Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

The 33-1 outsider led home a quality field in the showpiece race, a field that included the likes of Challenger Du Luc, Dublin Flyer and Bertone.

“It was one of the best days of my life,” said trainer Sue Nock, who still lives at the farm in Icomb, near Stow-on-the-Wold, where Senor El Betrutti was trained all those years ago.

Senor El Betrutti, the standout grey owned by Sue’s husband Gerard, led the two-and-a-half mile race from halfway and Sue added: “He ran an absolute blinder, he gave us all a real shock, everybody was gobsmacked.”

Racing, arguably more than any other sport, throws up some great stories and the Senor El Betrutti story is certainly right up there with the best.

That’s because Sue was, by her own admission, very much a novice trainer compared with some of the great names she was up against such as Martin Pipe, David Nicholson and Paul Nicholls.

Now 78, Sue came from a ‘horsey’ background, but it was more hunting, eventing and polo than National Hunt racing.

Her father Llewellyn Constance, known to everyone as a ‘Nipper’ – “He was the youngest of three children and everybody called him Nipper,” said Sue – was a leading horse vet and looked after a number of top competition horses including the Australian three-day eventing team.

Sue, who spent much of her early life at the family home near Didmarton, enjoyed his love of horses, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that National Hunt racing started to feature more prominently in her life.

“Trainer Jim Wilson got us going,” she said. “We had a horse with him called Sevens Out. He won the odd race but then he had a problem with his back. He came home and then I decided to take him point to pointing.”

That was in January 1992 and the move from Charlton Kings to Icomb certainly worked wonders because in the next three months, under Sue’s watchful eye, he enjoyed two wins, two seconds and two third places.

“I thought, ‘This training isn’t that difficult’,” Sue said laughing, before adding, “he did us proud. He won a lot of point to points and was in the first three so often.”

His last race was in May 1996 at Ashorne in Warwickshire, a race he won, ridden by Sue and Gerard’s great friend Alice Plunkett, before earning a well-deserved retirement.

By now Sue had also started training Senor El Betrutti – her first horse under Rules.

He was initially trained by Charlie Brooks, but after one win at Windsor from six runs over a period of 18 months, Sue took over the reins in October 1995.

“Sevens Out was nearing the end of his career so we decided we would have a go with Senor El Betrutti and race him under Rules,” explained Sue. “I applied for a permit trainer’s licence.

“Charlie was very accommodating, he was very generous with his advice and helped us in many ways.”

And there must have been something in the Icomb air around that time as once again Sue worked her magic from the get-go.

Two races in and she was celebrating a remarkable 66-1 success at Ascot after Senor El Betrutti had seen off Challenger Du Luc and Go Ballistic to win the Novices’ Chase over just under two-and-a-half miles.

“People must have wondered what was going on,” laughed Sue. “I never thought he’d run that well.”

But one person who did think Senor El Betrutti might have a chance was jockey Graham Bradley.

“I remember Brad getting on the horse that day and saying he could spring a bit of a surprise,” recalled Sue.

Graham Bradley was always Sue’s number one choice to ride Senor El Betrutti even though the likes of Tony McCoy, Carl Llewellyn, Norman Williamson and Murphy’s Gold Cup winner Jamie Osborne all rode him during the course of his 46-race career.

And Graham Bradley was always Senor El Betrutti’s biggest fan.

“Graham loved the horse,” Sue said. “He used to come to the farm and he did quite a lot of schooling, he was quite excited by him, he just thought he had a bit about him.”

And he was absolutely right. After that initial success with Sue in December 1995, the wins kept coming for Senor El Betrutti – at Sandown in February 1996 and then Ascot two months later.

The following year was the big one, of course, with wins at Warwick in the February and at Wincanton and Newbury a month later.

Those wins set him up for his assault on Cheltenham later in the year, although back then Sue was definitely not getting carried away.

“We were thrilled but I never dared to dream,” said Sue, who said fellow Cotswolds trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies was a big help to her in her career. “When things are going well you know how lucky you are but you never count your chickens.”

She knew what Senor El Betrutti liked and didn’t like, though.

“Two-and-a-half miles was his ideal distance, he would have made a very good Ryanair horse,” she continued.

“He loved firm ground. He hated running in a bog, he didn’t run well on soft ground.”

Fortunately for Sue and Senor El Betrutti, the going was good on that great Murphy’s Gold Cup day on Saturday 15^th November 1997.

Jamie Osborne was on board that day, as Graham Bradley couldn’t make the weight, and the combination led from the ninth fence. They jumped well throughout and once in front were never headed.

“I don’t think it was the plan for him to lead for so long,” recalled Sue. “It was something that just happened, we knew he liked to bowl along at the front.”

He certainly did. He was a crowd-pleaser and Sue remembers her life changed, certainly in the short-term, after that win.

“I never thought he could win,” said Sue. “I got so much fan mail, one woman wrote to me to say that she bought a Magimix with the money she’d won on him!”

And while that win was the highlight of Senor El Betrutti’s career, it was by no means the end of the story because even though Sue admits she thought it was “a one-off”, he was back at the home of National Hunt racing a month later when once again the cheers rang out as he won the Tripleprint Gold Cup in emphatic style.

This time Graham Bradley was on board as the Martin Pipe-trained and Tony McCoy-ridden Challenger Du Luc was again in their slipstream.

By now Senor El Betrutti was the talk of the Cotswolds and way beyond, and his next time at Cheltenham was for National Hunt racing’s blue riband event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in March 1998.

Ridden on that occasion by Carl Llewellyn, Senor El Betrutti excelled again and was a hugely impressive fourth behind the Andrew Thornton-ridden Cool Dawn, finishing ahead of the likes of Barton Bank, See More Business and Rough Quest.

“He had an unbelievable run, we were so excited and thrilled that he ran so well in that race,” said Sue, who is still a regular at Cheltenham Racecourse. “I don’t know why we kept being so surprised when he ran well!”

He was back at Cheltenham in November 1998 to defend the crown he had won 12 months earlier but this time he was not so fortunate, falling at the eighth when going well.

“He was at the front and that was to be his downfall,” remembered Sue. “He was kicked and bashed all over the place, he took a real hammering.

“It took a long time to get him right again but he didn’t want to be competitive after that, he didn’t want to go through the pain barrier.”

Senor El Betrutti finished eighth in that year’s Tripleprint Gold Cup and ran twice more at Cheltenham before running his final race at Exeter in May 2001.

And although he failed to win in those final few years, he still won more than £175,000 in prize money, which wasn’t bad for a relatively inexpensive horse.

“He had such presence, he was a bit of a show off,” said Sue. “He was such a good jumper, he’d look at the fences as he approached them, then stand off before taking off, he loved it.

“We had such fun with him, he was the family horse, he lived on the farm with us, he was the family pet. He was everyone’s friend.

“He had a great relationship with Sophie Brewer who ran the yard. She was brilliant with him.

“He was such a nice horse to have around, he spent his retirement turned out in the field with the ponies.”

He died at the age of 20 in December 2009, having returned to Sue’s farm in Icomb in his final years.

Sue, a mother of four and grandmother to five, trained other horses, most notably Tom Costalot who enjoyed five wins, including one at Cheltenham in December 2002.

The yard at the farm where she and her husband have lived for more than 40 years is still home to a number of horses, although none are owned or trained by the Nocks.

“Our neighbour, who is now our landlord, has a lot of eventers so there are plenty of horses around the place,” Sue said. “I like other people’s horses.”

Sue has had a lot of horses over the years – “A lot of bad ones, a few moderate ones and a very few good ones,” she said.

Top of the good ones is obviously Senor El Betrutti and she said: “I hadn’t realised it was 25 years since that Murphy’s Gold Cup win until you called.

“As I sit at home now, I can see the bronze head of Senor El Betrutti that Hamish Mackie sculpted peering at me over the wall in the garden!”

This year’s three-day November Meeting at Cheltenham runs from Friday until Sunday. Saturday’s feature race – the Paddy Power Gold Cup – gets under way at 2.20pm.