Charlotte Foster
TV

Today reporter walloped by Melbourne Cup horse

A hilarious on-air moment has been captured by the Today Show, as a reporter was shoved by a winning race horse. 

Christine Ahern was reporting live from Flemington on Monday to celebrate the launch of the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival, as she got up close and personal with Twilight Payment, who won the Cup in 2020. 

Perhaps not used to all the attention - given the 2020 Cup had no trackside crowd due to the pandemic - as the horse made his TV debut on Today, things quickly went awry. 

"Can I say I'm normally quite nervous around horses, but Twilight Payment is absolutely beautiful and as you can see, quite a calm horse as well," Christine started as she cautiously petted the large animal.

Twilight Payment patiently munched on some carrot as Christine spoke with Today host Karl and Sarah back in the studio, but when the horse's snacks ran out, he got a little fidgety. 

While in the middle of a sentence, the retired horse cheekily shoved Christine out of shot, prompting Karl and Sarah to burst into a fit of laughter. 

"They are very good judges of character, he can smell her fear," Karl Stefanovic laughed.

"I was beginning to wonder why she was so frightened of them, now I can see why," Sarah Abo added.

After all the excitement, Christine was okay and Twilight Payment even let her go back in for a hug with him after the fact.

Image credits: Today

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TV, Today, horse, shoved, Melbourne Cup