Five of the best horses ridden by retired Gold Cup-winning jockey Bryan Cooper

Our Conor (h165p)

Bryan Cooper had his first winners at the Cheltenham Festival in 2013 with Triumph Hurdle winner Our Conor being the pick of them. Trained by Dessie Hughes, Our Conor was unbeaten in four starts in his juvenile hurdle season with Cooper in the saddle each time. After winning a maiden at Navan and a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse on his first two starts, Our Conor proved himself the best of the Irish four-year-olds with a decisive win in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown over the Willie Mullins-trained favourite Diakali.

The Triumph promised to be more of a test against the best British-trained juveniles but Our Conor turned what had looked an open race beforehand into a procession. With Our Conor moving smoothly into the lead turning into the straight, Cooper took a look through his legs as he began to pull away, and was clear jumping the last before running out a 15-length winner, a record winning margin for the Triumph. That proved to be the end of Cooper’s association with Our Conor, however, as he was bought by owner Barry Connell at the end of the season resulting in Danny Mullins riding the ill-fated Our Conor in his remaining starts; sadly, he took a fatal fall in the following season’s Champion Hurdle.

Benefficient (c162)

Benefficient was the first of Cooper’s three winners at the 2013 Festival which left the twenty-year-old one short of Ruby Walsh who was the Festival’s leading rider that season. Benefficient’s trainer Tony Martin hailed Cooper as the ‘heir apparent to Ruby Walsh and Paul Carberry’ after he’d ridden the 20/1-shot to victory in the Jewson Novices’ Chase. Benefficient made the running before being headed at the third last but regained the lead at the final fence and went on to win by three quarters of a length from Dynaste. That wasn’t the first time that Cooper and Benefficient had combined to win at long odds.

Teaming up for the first time, they had caused an upset in the Grade 1 Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown when Benefficient made all as the 50/1 rank outsider to beat a field that included the future Gold Cup winner Lord Windermere. Benefficient had also been the outsider of three when winning the Irish Arkle under Cooper prior to their success at the Festival. Benefficient ran only three times over fences after his successful novice campaign but Cooper was in the saddle again when they accounted for better-fancied rivals once more in the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown as 9/1 winners.

Don Cossack (c183)

Less than a year after his Festival treble, Cooper replaced Davy Russell as Gigginstown’s number one rider in January 2014 and of the many good winners he was to ride in the maroon and white colours, the Gordon Elliott-trained Don Cossack provided Cooper with his career highlight. Their association didn’t get off to the best of starts in Don Cossack’s novice chase season, however, with a couple of defeats in small fields in Ireland and a fall in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham, but Don Cossack was vastly improved in his second season over fences, with Cooper on board for graded successes at Down Royal, Punchestown and Thurles. But for being badly hampered they might well have added the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham to those wins.

However, Cooper missed out on Don Cossack’s Grade 1 wins at the other big Festivals later that spring; he was suspended when Don Cossack put up a superb performance under Tony McCoy in the Melling Chase at Aintree and then chose Gigginstown’s other runner Road To Riches who finished third behind the Paul Carberry-ridden Don Cossack in the Punchestown Gold Cup. But it was the 2015/16 season which cemented Cooper’s partnership with Don Cossack who confirmed himself an outstanding chaser and became Timeform’s Horse of the Year for the second time. A fall two out in the King George VI Chase cost them a probable victory at Kempton, but they won their other four starts, culminating in a victory over Djakadam in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Don Poli (c170)

Gigginstown had the third as well as the winner in the 2016 Gold Cup with the Mullins-trained Don Poli taking third under Davy Russell. Cooper claimed he found it difficult choosing between the two ‘Dons’, having enjoyed plenty of success with Don Poli over three seasons. After all, Don Poli had won his two starts prior to the Gold Cup under Cooper, beating Grand National winner Many Clouds in the race at Aintree which was later to be named after him and then following up in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown when beating another Gigginstown chaser First Lieutenant (with whom Cooper had won the Bowl Chase at Aintree in 2013).

Don Poli was also a dual Cheltenham Festival winner, and while Cooper hadn’t been able to share in his success in the Martin Pipe for conditional jockeys, he did partner him to victory in the following season’s RSA Chase where he was all the rage in the betting and stormed up the hill for an impressive six-length victory to keep his unbeaten record over fences. After the Gold Cup, Cooper and Don Poli were reunited for two more runs, finishing second to Cue Card in the Bowl at Aintree and third to Carlingford Lough in the Punchestown Gold Cup.

Apple’s Jade (h162)

Apple’s Jade was to become the regular ride of Cooper’s successor as Gigginstown’s number one jockey, Jack Kennedy, but Cooper enjoyed some big wins on Gigginstown’s high-class mare in her formative years over hurdles. She was trained by Willie Mullins in her juvenile season and Cooper had his first ride on her when runner-up in the 2016 Triumph Hurdle but Apple’s Jade went on to two Grade 1 wins that spring under Cooper, slamming the Triumph winner Ivanovich Gorbatov by more than forty lengths in the Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree and then following up at Punchestown.

Switched to Elliott the following season, Apple’s Jade was reunited with Cooper for the first time in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse where they got the better of the older mare Vroum Vroum Mag in a thriller in the first of what were to be Apple’s Jade’s three wins in that contest. An astute ride from Cooper in a falsely-run race enabled Apple’s Jade to beat Vroum Vroum Mag with a bit more to spare when they met again in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham the following spring before Cooper gained the last of his five Grade 1 wins on Apple’s Jade in the Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

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