Norton's Coin managed to become both hero and villain within the space of six minutes.

In March 1990 the unfancied West Wales-trained horse — a 100-1 rank outsider — shocked the racing world by winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

He did so in record time. And he achieved it by leaving the nation's favourite racehorse Desert Orchid behind in third.

Dessie was in his pomp at the time. He had won the previous year's Gold Cup in thrilling fashion before going on to land the prestigious King George VI Chase at Kempton for the third time.

Few pundits entertained the possibility of him tasting defeat that afternoon. Fewer still thought that it might be inflicted by Norton's Coin.

Desert Orchid was backed into odds-on favouritism for the race, worth £67,000 to the winner.

The only people backing Norton's Coin were those from South Wales, who decided to stay loyal to the local horse.

Owned and trained in Nantgaredig, just outside Carmarthen, by farmer Sirrel Griffiths, Norton's Coin had been a decent horse without ever threatening to set the world alight.

He had run well without winning at the previous year's Festival, although he did return to Cheltenham the following month to land his biggest prize up to that date.

But this was a huge step up in class. And as the realists were only too happy to point out, Gold Cups are not won by horses bought for just 700 guineas or trained by a man who kept just three horses among the herd of cows at his farm.

Griffiths was among the realists. He had all but ruled out any hope of winning, but harboured hopes of a place in the first four with luck in running.

Yet Norton's Coin had no idea how much he was worth. Or that his trainer was a farmer. And he was about to create the biggest shock in Cheltenham Festival history.

As the race progressed, the potential challengers to Dessie's crown faded away. And as the field turned for home with two to jump, only three — Toby Tobias, Desert Orchid and Norton's Coin — held any chance.

Desert Orchid — amazingly — was the first to crack and over the last Norton's Coin held a slender advantage over Toby Tobias.

Jockey Graham McCourt gave him a couple of cracks with the whip and the Welsh horse battled all the way up the famous Cheltenham hill, eventually passing the post three-quarters of a length ahead with Desert Orchid four lengths back in third.

It had started as a normal day for Griffiths, who had milked his cows before setting off for the racecourse.

Yet here he was a few hours later in the Cheltenham winner's enclosure being congratulated by the Queen Mother.

"I can remember everything," he said.

"I milked the cows in the morning as usual. We'd done most of the work before we went to Cheltenham.

"We had someone in to do the evening's work. It wasn't that I wanted to stay behind to celebrate, or anything like that. It was that I was waiting for the crowd to disappear before I left.

"I didn't want to get in a queue of stopping and starting. It was seven o'clock before I went home."

The trainer felt the conditions might be too quick for Norton's Coin as his best form had been on softish going.

"The ground was fast, and knowing the horse, we always thought he wanted heavy ground. I was for rain all the time," he added.

"I couldn't see him winning, but if he could find his form from the previous year, when he beat some very good horses over two-and-a-half miles at Cheltenham that April, I thought he might get in the first four.

"He hit the third and I thought that was the end of him. But it didn't stop him, though he finished the race very lame. He was hopping afterwards and was confined to his box for several weeks.

"We don't know if it was that fence, or if he was kicked at the start, but he got over it.

"It was a very brave run. When he moved into third place, I kept saying to myself 'just stay there'. That would be lovely.

"When he came to the last, I felt that if he did a good jump he could win. I honestly did — and it happened.

"I couldn't believe going into the winner's enclosure at Cheltenham. The Queen Mother was lovely. She knew I came from West Wales and had cows.

"She asked me how I could come and win the Gold Cup with only a couple of horses in the stable.

"She said that she and her late husband had tried for years without success. Lightning won't strike twice, but who would have thought it would have struck then?"