Peter and Lucinda Atkinson living the dream with Bumper hope Irish Roe

Irish Roe is out to land a blow for National Hunt die-hards everywhere when she runs in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham next week.Trainer Peter Atkinson is a pig farmer who is responsible for just one other horse in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, but that has not stopped Irish Roe winning all of her three races to date.The most recent of those was when she dead-heated in a Listed event at Cheltenham in November to gain valuable experience of the course, which is something none of the market leaders can boast.Picked up for a paltry €2,000 as a three-year-old, she is now six and carries the hopes of a community down to Gloucestershire.Atkinson's wife Lucinda is an international event rider and point-to-point trainer and admits that being so close to having a runner at the biggest Festival of them all is the "stuff of dreams". "We know what can happen with horses, and there is still a week to go, but the plan is still to head down there," she said. "She's very easy to work. We take her up to Middleham with a point-to-pointer of ours and we think she's in good form."She just does her work and that's it, but, of course, we've never been in this situation before -this is all new to us. "Whether we've done enough with her we won't know until the day but all the signs suggest she's in good form."Where else could you go with her? Yes, there's Aintree, but we might never get the chance of another runner at Cheltenham again."It's the stuff of dreams and she only cost €2,000."Lucinda Atkinson continued:"She's getting the mares' allowance and she's not a timid mare, so I don't think racing against geldings for the first time will bother her. "Everywhere we go people are asking about her and cheering for us. The reaction to her win in November was incredible and we had no idea it would create such a stir."I think people enjoy the fact we are a small operation. She cost next to nothing and yet she's running at the Cheltenham Festival. "Fingers crossed she gets there first and then hopefully she can do herself justice. "To be honest, we're having to pinch ourselves at the moment."Henry Brooke, in the saddle for two of her three wins, will be back on board on Wednesday week.