Keith Donoghue
Keith Donoghue’s William Hill blog: Stumptown has chance if luck on his side in Velka Pardubicka
William Hill ambassador Keith Donoghue looks ahead to his trip to Czech Republic to ride Stumptown in Sunday’s Velka Pardubicka.
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As the jumps season in Ireland begins to move up a gear it is an exciting time of the year.
Over the summer I’ve kept busy enough on the track, along with continuing to ride out at Gavin’s [Cromwell], but I’ve managed to get a few rounds of golf in to help recharge the batteries.
The last two months we have been gradually getting busier at Gavin’s and I’m looking forward to the winter horses starting to come out. We have plenty of smart horses at Gavin’s, but we are probably three or four weeks away from those nicer ones running. Without singling out any in particular there are a few that won bumpers last season that will hopefully be nice novice hurdlers.
Pardubice, Sunday
I’m flying over to the Czech Republic at the weekend to ride Stumptown in the Velka Pardubicka (2:30pm) on Sunday.
I was lucky enough to ride in the race last year aboard Coko Beach. It is a unique course, but you need a little bit of luck in it as you do with all these types of races. Unfortunately, I didn’t complete the race last year as I fell four out. That was around six or seven furlongs out, but I was happy with how he was going at the time and it was a great experience.
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. I can’t remember how many there were in attendance last year, but there was a massive crowd which helped make the occasion.
I’m looking forward to riding Stumptown, who should have a good chance if he gets that little bit of luck you need. This race has been on the agenda for Stumptown since about last November. He had a great season until pulling up in the Grand National having previously won the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. These cross-country type races really seem to suit him. 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. His preparation hasn’t been much different to a normal cross-country race. He hasn’t been for an away day or anything as we have a few jumps at home we can pop him over. It will be a long journey over there for him but he should cope with it fine as he is a laid-back horse. Races like this give me a real buzz as I love these types of cross-country events.
If we did manage to win the race it would be great and a fantastic achievement personally.
