JOCKEY PROFILE

County of origin: Meath

First winner: Nino Cochise (Gordon Elliott) Listowel, September 13, 2009

Assoc. Trainers: Gavin Cromwell, Jim Drepaer, Dermot McLoughlin, Shane Crawley

Significant horses: Tiger Roll, Delta Work, Hardline, The Storyteller, Missy Tata, Tell Us More, Cadogan, Ongenstown Lad, Blazing Tempo, Ronald Pump, Fakiera, Take A Turn, Vanillier, Limerick Lace, The Big Dog, Jeremys Flame, Brides Hill, Stumptown, Final Orders. 

Did you know:

From Dunshaughlin, County Meath, Keith Donoghue rode over 150 winners on the pony racing circuit and was successful on just his fourth ride on the racecourse proper when partnering the Gordon Elliott-trained Nino Cochise to victory in the Kerry Spring Water Hurdle at Listowel on September 13, 2009.

Keith has won a number of races at Graded level and a number of valuable handicaps. He rode his first winner at the Cheltenham Festival when taking the Cross Country Chase on the Gordon Elliott-trained Tiger Roll in 2018.

The partnership would go on to win the same race the following year and again in 2021 when Tiger Roll etched his name into the record books by becoming only the third horse (after Golden Miller, successful in five Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1932 and 1936, and Quevega, which won the Mares’ Hurdle six times between 2009 and 2014) in history to win five or more races at the Cheltenham Festival. Tiger Roll had previously won the National Hunt Chase in 2017 and the JCB Triumph Hurdle in 2014.

Keith won the Cross Country Chase for a fourth time on the Gordon Elliott-trained Delta Work in 2023 and he is the winning-most jockey in the race alongside Nina Carberry. 

Keith's first Grade 1 winner came in the shape of the Elliott-trained Hardline which landed the inaugural running of the Matchbook Betting Exchange Novice Chase at Limerick on St Stephen's Day, 2018.

Keith enjoyed further success on Tiger Roll in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle at Navan in early 2019, a success that paved the way for a second win for the pair in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival only weeks later.

A second Grade 1 success came Donoghue's way when he landed the Ladbrokes Champion Chase on Gordon Elliott's The Storyteller at Down Royal on October 31, 2020. 

At the conclusion of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Keith had five Festival winners to his name after winning the Mares' Chase on the Gavin Cromwell-trained Limerick Lace. 

Updated: March 15, 2024