KEITH Donoghue is looking forward to partnering Stumptown in tomorrow’s Velka Pardubicka, as Gavin Cromwell’s charge seeks to become the first Irish-trained winner on the race’s 135th running.

“Races like this give me a real buzz as I love these types of cross-country events,” he told William Hill. “If we did manage to win the race it would be great and a fantastic achievement personally.”

Donoghue travelled to the Czech Republic to ride the Gordon Elliott-trained Coko Beach last year and was travelling well until falling at the fourth last. “It is a unique course, but you need a little bit of luck in it as you do with all these types of races,” he reflected.

“The one big jump, the Taxis ditch, would be bigger than any jump in the Grand National, but other than that, and going through a couple of ploughed fields, it is similar to the likes of the cross-country chases at Cheltenham and Punchestown.” 

Stumptown was pulled up when last seen in the Aintree Grand National, but had won his previous four starts; the first two at Punchestown, and next twice at Cheltenham. Last season’s near-perfect record set plans in motion for the Furze Bush Syndicate-owned eight-year-old.

“This race has been on the agenda for him for a while now,” Donoghue explained. “You can never be sure if these sorts of races spark a bit of life into a horse until you have tried it, but they seemed to have done the trick for Stumptown.”