Final Orders made to measure for Cromwell and Donoghue

Final Orders was a sight to behold at Cheltenham as Gavin Cromwell and Keith Donoghue teamed up to land the Glenfarclas Crystal Cup Cross Country Handicap Chase for the second year running.

The trainer and jockey combination were successful with recent Velka Pardubicka winner Stumptown 12 months ago, but Final Orders was surprisingly an unfancied 16-1 this time around.

However, he produced an exhibition in tackling the specialist cross-country circuit under his expert pilot who excels in this discipline, always towards the fore and swaggering home for a four-and-a-quarter length success over Emmet Mullins’ 7-4 favourite J’arrive De L’est.

Final Orders was made 10-1 from 50s to repeat this success at the Cheltenham Festival, with Cromwell full of praise for the winning rider who famously enjoyed a fine association with Tiger Roll at this venue.

He told ITV Racing: “Keith is unbelievable over these fences, he’s worth at least a stone on any horse around here. He loves it so much and the horses get such a tune out of him. I guess they gain in confidence and jump brilliantly for him.

“Final Orders really enjoyed it, he’s so nimble and quick and has really taken to it.

“Absolutely we’ll come back here in March, why not.”