Cooper remembers ‘great relief’ of grabbing Gold with Don Cossack

In the story of Bryan Cooper, the Cheltenham Festival has always played a leading role.

It was at Prestbury Park in 2013 a then 20-year-old Cooper announced himself to the racing world with a treble. It was the place he would suffer a career-threatening injury before returning to the winner’s enclosure on the grandest stage 12 months later.

It would also be the place of his shock decision to call time on his riding career in 2023.

However, 10 years ago, on the undulating acreage of Cotswolds land racing holds dear, Cooper’s career reached its peak, achieving the moment he had always dreamed of when careering to Cheltenham Gold Cup glory aboard Don Cossack.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years already, it doesn’t feel like that and alongside Our Conor winning the Triumph, the Gold Cup was one of the standout days in my career,” said Cooper.

“Everyone might say they want to win a Grand National, but for me a Gold Cup was always what I wanted. For me it’s like winning a Premier League or Rugby World Cup, it’s the biggest stage for a champion and I was lucky enough to get to experience that thrill.

“There was a lot of joy and there were some big celebrations that night. Being in the 21 Club will be a night I’ll never forget and everyone was there, even Ruby (Walsh) and AP McCoy were in there if I remember right. It was just great, and great relief.”

Many remember that 2016 edition of the Gold Cup as the one that Cue Card left behind with his crashing fall three from the finish that saw Paddy Brennan grimacing in anguish as he wiped away the dirt.

However, for Cooper there was no doubt he had called correctly when presented with the choice between Dons Cossack and Poli, enjoying a moment of pure clarity sportsmen wait a lifetime to experience.

“There was a lot of pressure going into the race. I had the choice of Don Cossack or Don Poli, and I just hoped I was on the right one,” said the Boylesports ambassador.

“I went out that day with Plan A, B, C and D and it was one of those rare occasions Plan A worked from the moment the tapes went up.

“I got in tight to the fence at the top of the hill and he latched back on to the bridle and I know it might have looked like Cue Card was going well – and I’ve had plenty of back-and-forth with Paddy Brennan about this ever since – but I genuinely just think Cue Card would have given me a lead for longer if he hadn’t fallen. We’ll never know, but I couldn’t see anything beating Don Cossack.”

If Don Cossack was the pinnacle of Cooper’s career, then the path to stardom was paved by Our Conor, the electric juvenile expertly primed by the young rider’s mentor, the late Dessie Hughes.

Our Conor would be the only Festival winner Cooper would ride for Hughes, but it was also arguably the most significant of all nine of his winners on National Hunt racing’s biggest stage and for the former jockey himself, the one that to this day gives him the ultimate satisfaction.

“That winner meant more to me than any other I rode at Cheltenham, just because of who it was for,” explained Cooper. “I would never have won a Gold Cup without Dessie and he mapped my career out for me.

“I had been with Dessie since I was 14 and he was like a second father to me, so to ride a Festival winner for him and one that was so impressive, just meant the world.”

He went on: “I had a brilliant relationship with the horse and I had rode him every day since he had come into the yard, even when Barry Connell bought him I still rode him out, and Dessie was adamant I ride him at home.

“I had a special bond with that horse and with Dessie which is why I sometimes wonder if it means more than the Gold Cup, which might sound bonkers, but obviously there was special reasons I say that.”

It was a little under a year after his Cheltenham exploits aboard Our Conor in 2013 that Ryanair supremo Michael O’Leary and the powerhouse outfit of Gigginstown came knocking at Cooper’s door in their search for a replacement for the deposed Davy Russell.

It would be an association that would span four years and form the backbone of Cooper’s success at the Festival, bringing not only Gold Cup glory with Don Cossack in 2016, but notable triumphs aboard the likes of Don Poli (2015) and Apple’s Jade (2017) either side.

Cooper said: “When it all happened and I got the job I was in a little bubble just going along, but now looking back at all these things that happened at such a young part of my career, it’s amazing.

“Obviously there were bad days, but it’s great to reminisce on it all and I was very lucky to have the experiences I did.

“Michael never retained anyone else after me and I think the job perhaps got a bit too big for just one jockey eventually.

“When it all ended I rode big winners again for all the trainers I rode for with Gigginstown. It wasn’t like when I was let go I never rode for anyone again, and I would ride a Cheltenham Festival winner for Paul Nolan. They all supported me which meant a lot.”

For all the highs that the Cotswolds brought Cooper there were also two monumental lows.

First was when sent crashing to the turf while riding Clarcam in the 2014 Fred Winter, an excruciating fall that left a young Irishman not only contemplating the premature end to his career, but also waking from surgery without a limb.

Then almost 10 years later, the morning of day two of the 2023 Festival would signal the moment Cooper acknowledged his career could go on no more, bowing out quietly in the bedroom of his accommodation, a full stop on his Cheltenham journey during the week he will always be best associated.

Reflecting on those dark moments, he said: “The injury at Cheltenham was similar to the one Lindsey Vonn suffered at the Olympics and when I went down for surgery I was thinking I might not have a leg when I wake up and that obviously left its mark.

“I don’t think I came back as good as I was before that even though I did ride a lot of winners.

“Despite the bad days, I still rode nine winners at the Cheltenham Festival and it’s a very, very special place. I loved it and I have photos on the wall from days and memories there that will live with me forever.

“I suppose I wish the way it ended didn’t happen and that maybe I could have gone out there and rode on the Wednesday and finished on the back of a horse, but you can’t help what goes on in your mind sometimes and I will never look back at the dark days with regret.

“Cheltenham was a place that was very good to me and I’ll always have so many fond memories.”