Footage on this website of a man being trampled by a horse at the traditional Mnarja sulky race stunned many as the clip travelled around the island and beyond to reach the computer screens of at least 30,000 viewers.

But the more amazing part of the story is that 40-year-old Leli Theuma of Msida was released from hospital yesterday with relatively light injuries.

His horse was the one to win on Tuesday, with his son holding the reins, he told The Times proudly. And what's more, while still in pain, he is "already preparing for the next race... That is my only passion".

Few of those who watched the video, horrified, would have thought he would be happily telling the tale on his sofa just two days later.

The footage, shot by timesofmalta.com videographer Mark Zammit Cordina, shows Mr Theuma walking up the racetrack as three horses pulling sulkies approach flat-out from behind him.

There follows a terrifying scene. The impact is violent. Mr Theuma is slammed face-first to the ground before the sulky runs over his foot and the man is left lying, seemingly lifeless, on the tarmac.

People rush to Mr Theuma as he regains consciousness and attempts to get up, revealing the blood gushing out of his forehead. But a man reaches his side and pushes his head back down, encouraging him not to move.

Paramedics eventually transferred him to a stretcher and rushed him to hospital in an ambulance.

Speaking to The Times from the apartment he shares with his family, pets and horseracing trophies, the karrozzin driver, who says the love of horses runs in his blood, is the first to admit the fault was his, as he was not standing behind the metal barrier. "Around three quarters of the fault was mine," he said. "I didn't see the horse coming, and it didn't see me."

What happened was that when Mr Theuma was standing on the start line, preparing his horse for the jockey, there was only one other entry. The race was about to begin and he started walking up the road to view it from midway, but by this time a third horse had entered the race.

Unaware of this, Mr Theuma focused on the two horses, ignoring the third which was lagging behind and which would soon knock him down.

At the point of impact, his son had just won the race, he explained, and he was rushing towards the finish line where he was waiting. Since there was a crowd behind the barriers, he chose to keep walking along the raceway, also unaware that there was another race to follow the one his son had taken part in.

"At that time, you're blinded... But there were a lot of people and I decided to stay in the road...and I wanted to get next to my son (who had won the race) and not leave him alone."

He is well aware of how lucky he was, especially as he had already had an accident at the same Mnarja race in 1994 when he overturned during a similar race, this time as a jockey.

"It could have been much worse - in '88 or '87 there was a man in San Ġwann who died after being hit by a horse."

He was keen to insist, though, that he never jumped over the fence, as some people had commented, but had been watching the races from the road all along. In retrospect, he admitted it was still foolish of him to do that but the accident took place, he repeated, because he believed the race was over.

He also stressed it was not a malicious act on behalf of the other driver, as some people had alleged - the jockey riding the horse that trampled him had already called three times to check up on him.

He got away with three sutures over his left eyebrow, a deep gash on the back of his head and his left tattooed arm in a sling. He still feels dizzy when standing and it will be a while before he gets back to tending his three horses and the karrozzin.

"When I was in hospital, I was more focused on the pain in my hand. It was only at 3 a.m., after the doctor on duty insisted my wounds were stitched, that I had them done," Mr Theuma explained.

He thanked the staff at Mater Dei, and Joe Zerafa and Mark Millo, who accompanied him there.