Top jockey steps in to help ‘moove’ cows off M5

Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey Paddy Brennan came to the rescue of stranded drivers by helping move a herd of cows who were blocking a major motorway.

Motorists on the M5 faced hours of delays on Tuesday evening (7 November) after a herd of more than 20 cows escaped from their field and wandered onto the road.

Both carriageways were closed between junctions 21 and 22 just after 5.30pm due to the bovine explorers, sparking many jokes about “slow-mooving” traffic and cows wanting to “get to the udder side”.

Officers from Highways England and Avon & Somerset Police managed to slowly herd the cattle on foot around 1km to Sedgemoor Services.

A video shared to Paddy’s Twitter account appears to show the leading jump jockey lending a helping hand to the herders, with cheers of encouragement from the person filming. He confirmed to H&H yesterday that it was him in the clip.

“Someone had to sort the M5 out!” he tweeted.

The road was finally fully reopened at around 8pm that night.

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The leading jockey — and cattle herder — has 16 Grade One victories to his name.

These include the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup, which he won aboard Imperial Commander.

He has also won the Betfair Chase three times, in 2010 with Imperial Commander and in 2015 and 2016 with Cue Card.

He has also piloted Cue Card to victory in the King George VI chase, the Ascot chase and the Betfred Bowl.

Cue Card’s trainer Colin Tizzard announced yesterday (Wednesday, 8 November) that Harry Cobden will be taking over the ride from Paddy.

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Lucy Elder

H&H senior news writer

Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.