Huge win in Royal Ascot for Athlone's Stephen Donohoe

Athlone jockey Stephen Donohoe claimed his first win at Royal Ascot yesterday (Tuesday).

Donohoe guided Rajasinghe to a superb victory in the Coventry Stakes (Group 2) race.

Trained by Richard Spencer, Rajasinghe was a maiden winner at Newcastle and yesterday he claimed a sensational win at the famed Berkshire venue.

'Being drawn nine I thought was a nice draw, but it ended up being a bad draw because I had nothing to aim at. He stays well and he came good about a furlong and a half out. He's done all his work on his own so I think it's more impressive than it looked. He's a big boy, full of life and we love him to bits,' Stephen is quoted as saying on www.sportinglife.com.  

'I dislocated my fingers last night and all night they were giving me trouble. I took the straps off down at the start, hoping the adrenaline would get me through.

'We'd been really happy with his homework, the only worry we had was running on turf. It's great for the underdog, to take on the big boys and win is great,' added the talented flat racing jockey.

Stephen (often referred to as Stevie) subsequently tweeted: 'Chilled out after a fantastic day yesterday, thank you for all my messages.'

Back in 2006, Donohoe was British Champion Apprentice when the Athlone man rode 44 winners, four ahead of his main challengers. By winning the Lester Award for Apprentice Jockey of the Year, he followed in the footsteps of the likes of Seb Sanders and Ryan Moore.

Stephen, who has also spent some time racing in California, is now based in Cambridge. He began his career in Athlone with Gerry Moran, before joining RACE in Kildare and training under Christy Roche, Dave Evans and William Musson.