Keith Donoghue

 Age: 17

Principal Trainer: Gordon Elliott

Notable Wins: Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle (Blazing Tempo 2010), Kerry Spring Water Hurdle (Nino Cochise 2009)

The precocious Keith Donoghue has very quickly established himself as one of the fastest-rising talents in the Irish National Hunt weighing room. Attached to the Gordon Elliott yard, he has already made a notable impact on both sides of the Irish Sea and is a live contender for the title of Champion Conditional Rider this season.

Early Days

Like so many stars of the future, Keith Donoghue began his career in the saddle in the pony racing fields. A highly-successful rider in that sphere, he rode over 150 winners in “the flaps”. Not unsurprisingly, such success attracted the attention of many trainers and Donoghue elected to go work for the fast-rising National Hunt trainer Gordon Elliott. Elliott wasted no time in putting him up, with him having his first ride on the racecourse on Opatja in a novice hurdle at Downpatrick on August 31st 2009. He didn’t have to wait long to get off the mark either, riding the Elliott-trained Nino Cochise to success in a valuable conditions hurdle at the Listowel Harvest Festival, and it wasn’t long before the winners began to flow.

With Elliott regularly sending raiders across the Irish Sea, Donoghue was often entrusted with taking the reins and wins at the likes of Perth, Sedgefield and Ludlow soon followed. He secured a notable win back in Ireland when riding the Willie Austin-trained Blazing Tempo to success in a valuable handicap hurdle at on Hennessy Gold Cup day at Leopardstown in February. Donoghue finished his first season strongly, riding a double at Perth in late-April, which gave him a total of nine winners between Britain and Ireland in his first campaign.

Climbing The Ladder

After such a promising start, hopes were high that Donoghue would continue his progression in his first full campaign in 2010/11 and that has very much proven to be the case. He enjoyed an exceptionally successful first four months of the campaign, riding no less than 18 winners between Britain and Ireland, including doubles at Perth in late-July and at Downpatrick in early-August (also rode two runner-ups on the card). This period also saw his claim reduced from 7 lb to 5 lb, but that didn’t slow down his momentum.

The winner’s continued to come steadily all the way up to the Christmas period and it was during that time that he almost pulled off the biggest success of his young career, finishing second on the Ado McGuinness-trained Fearless Falcon in the Grade 2 Bord na Mona Fire Magic Juvenile Hurdle at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival. Not much more than a week later, he occupied the same position on the same horse in the Grade 3 Visit Punchestown.com Juvenile Hurdle at Punchestown, this time failing by just a neck.

While Donoghue’s momentum slowed a bit after Christmas, he has continued to ride well and as the end of the season approaches, he lies in joint-second position in the race for the title of Champion Conditional Rider. With his boss Gordon Elliott always one to watch with his British raiders in the opening months of the season, it is unlikely to be long before Donoghue returns to top form.

Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland Updated May 2011