Cheltenham Festival repeat a priority for Pardubicka hero Stumptown

Stumptown will be aimed at a repeat win in Cheltenham’s Cross Country Chase rather than the Grand National following his historic success in the Velka Pardubicka on Sunday.

Gavin Cromwell’s eight-year-old won twice over Cheltenham’s inside track last season before finishing lame at Aintree when he was a well-fancied 10-1 shot.

He became the first Irish-trained horse to win the famous race at the weekend and whatever he does in the future, he will always have a place in the record books.

“We had a great experience in the Czech Republic over the weekend with Stumptown winning the Pardubicka. It was a fantastic day to be a part of. It’s a very unique race, the crowd and atmosphere was fantastic, and it was even better to win the race,” said William Hill ambassador Cromwell.

“There were three scary moments for us during the race, any one of which could’ve seen Keith Donoghue unseated, but luck was on our side. Keith was brilliant on him, and he showed again just how invaluable his experience is in cross country races. It was a long, tough race with lots of travelling involved, so Stumptown will have a good break now.

“Getting him back to the Cheltenham Festival is the end goal for this season. Where we go in between now and then, I’m not too sure. He’ll take a while to get over a tough race with three days of travelling, so we won’t be running him back too soon.

“We’ll make a plan, but ultimately Cheltenham is the goal. He obviously ran in the Grand National after Cheltenham last season, but that’s not really on the list for him this time – I’d say we’ll probably bypass it. Nothing is certain, but it’s not high up on his list of races for the season.”

Cromwell could be celebrating a unique double with Ballysax Hank running in the American Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills in New Jersey on Saturday.