I DIDN’T have a horsey background at all. I only got involved when my granddad got me riding lessons when I was in fourth or fifth class. From there, I started doing a bit of show jumping. Mam and Dad wouldn’t have been into horses but since I got involved, they have taken an interest. They were great taking me around to the different shows when I was younger.

Being from Kilkenny, camogie was always number one in our house. As I got more involved with that in first and second year, I took a step back from horses for those couple of years. It wasn’t until after my Junior Cert that I really got back into it again. I was looking for a job to earn a bit of extra money and was lucky enough to get a part-time one with Jim Bolger. At the beginning, I was only working on the ground, as I didn’t have much experience with thoroughbreds.

A neighbour at home, Audrey Keogh, had a retired racehorse and I started riding him out. That gave me the confidence to sit up on a few of the quieter ones at Jim’s and it just went from there. I did my Leaving Cert during Covid. I think rather than fitting in a bit of work in the yard around study, it was the other way around! Mr Bolger’s was a brilliant place to work and I learned so much during my time there.

Even after I finished in school and went on to study Business Management at Maynooth, I continued to ride out there every weekend. During that time, I also did sales work for Ivy and John Wafer at Graiguebeg Stud and Fiona and John McEnery at Rossenarra Stud. They were all very good to me and I learned a lot from them. I then spent a year working for Jim full-time after graduating. I was in the office, but also rode out a few lots.

New beginnings

It was a great experience and I can’t thank Mr Bolger and everyone at Coolcullen enough. Towards the end of last summer, I decided to move up to Kildare, as my boyfriend is from there. He is involved in the industry as well and we do a few half-breds ourselves in our spare time.

In August of last year, I started working for Gavin (Cromwell). The first two horses I looked after were Will The Wise and Individualiste. Basically, it kind of goes on favouritism in that, where possible, you are allowed look after the horse(s) that you have a soft spot for.

Stumptown is a real favourite in the yard. Everyone loves him because not only is he a good horse, he is also a nice ride, with a laid-back personality. After Christmas, I was riding him out a lot and, luckily, I got to stay on him. In March, I got to travel to Cheltenham with him. It was my first Festival and it was absolutely amazing to lead up a winner.

It was like nothing I had ever experienced before; a different buzz altogether. I’d always watched Cheltenham on television growing up. I remember rushing home from school on the Wednesday to watch the Cross Country Chase. That was always my favourite race of the week. Television doesn’t really do it justice when you are really in the moment with it. Hearing the roar of the Irish crowd when we came back in after was incredible. Cheltenham was a great week for Gavin and all of us as a team. It was a great experience for me to be involved with.

After Aintree, where Stumptown got hampered early and was never really travelling, I dropped both him and Will The Wise down to their owners in Kerry. I remember talking to Keith (Donoghue) around that time and he said that Stumptown could be the horse for the Pardubicka. Keith had ridden in the race the previous year, so knew what was needed. When I saw Stumptown come back in from his summer break early, I knew that must be the plan!

The journey

On the Monday morning before the Pardubicka, myself and Tara (Finnegan) were in the yard at 5.30am. After riding out, we headed for the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead. On the other side, we then had a nine-hour drive from Holyhead down to Dover. We stayed the night and I rode Stumptown out in the morning before we took the ferry from Dover to Calais. On the Tuesday, we had a seven-hour drive from Calais to Cologne.

The last leg of our journey was an 11-hour drive from Cologne to the Czech Republic. Stumptown was stabled on the racecourse from Wednesday until the Sunday. I rode him out every morning. It was a fabulous course to stay at; to get from the stableyard to where I rode him out, we had to walk down through a forest area. We were so well looked after throughout our stay. James and Ian from the International Racing Bureau and Tomas at the racecourse were amazing.

The race itself was a bit of a blur. He was grand over the first three fences but I actually thought he had fallen at the Taxis! It all happened so fast and I just saw a loose black horse. After the bank, I realised he was still in the race and was just delighted with that. He was off the bridle a long way out, but he had done the same at Cheltenham. After he jumped the last fence, I was so happy just to know he was coming home safely.

It wasn’t until Ciara, who was with Peter Maher’s horse, said ‘well done’ that it dawned on me. I started crying. When Stumptown came back in after the race there were loud choruses of ‘ole, ole’. When that happens, you know that there are plenty of Irish around! As Amhran na bhFiann was played during the presentation, I was surprised how clearly you could hear people singing.

It was so nice to hear that so far away from home. There are obviously a lot of Irish in the Czech Republic. I knew that an Irish horse had never won the race previously and only one British-trained runner had done so. To be associated with a piece of history like that was special.

Stumptown has gone on a break now. He will be prepared for another bid for the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham in March.

Grace was in conversation with John O’Riordan.