It’s been very hard not to notice Harry Skelton’s huge black eye at the Cheltenham Festival.
Skelton rode The New Lion to glory in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle in the opening race of Day Two of the iconic event.
And as he crossed the finish line, you could clearly see the severe bruising surrounding his eye.
In his post-race interview it was very obvious too, with viewers questioning what caused the horrendous injury.
So, here’s exactly what happened…
Why does Harry Skelton have a black eye?
Skelton was kicked in the head by a foal at the weekend right before the start of the Cheltenham Festival.
But he has continued to race and is starring at the event despite the serious injury that could potentially have been worse.
He told ITV Racing on Wednesday: “Sunday morning I was out watering some foals and one decided to give me a good hiding.
“As it went away it kicked me straight in the side of my head and just caught the edge of my eye. Luckily the eye was all right.
“It split the side of my eye around my eyebrow. My vision was fine so I thought thankfully it has not kicked my eye.
“But it has definitely kicked something as I had a load of blood pouring out everywhere.
“There was a lot of blood and 20 minutes later I was at Warwick racecourse and had a visit to Dr Pritchard who stitched it back up so all’s good.
“He said it might be a bit swollen tomorrow morning, but you will be absolutely fine and just make sure you keep a bit of ice on it.
“Between him and Sarah the nurse they patched me up and I went on and had two rides at Warwick.
“I got beat on both of them, but I should have probably won on the last one and I swore all the way home from being beaten on it!”
Skelton has been racing this week at Cheltenham and he won his first race of the festival on The New Lion.
He will also be riding Be Aware, Unexpected Party and Fortune De Mer on Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday, he will ride iconic Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson‘s Protektorat in the Ryanair Chase.
Skelton will also be going for glory on Langer Dan and Catch Him Derry before riding Valgrand on Friday afternoon.
Speaking further on his eye injury, he added: “Luckily the goggles just go over it. It was so numb I couldn’t feel anything to be honest.
“It could have been a lot worse.”
