“It was a relief NOT to ride at Cheltenham”

Former Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey Bryan Cooper has admitted he felt huge relief when he made the transition from rider to spectator with his surprise early retirement from horse racing in 2023.

Cooper developed a fear of falling and claimed the decision to retire 'was a huge weight off his shoulders'.

Cooper, who has just joined BoyleSports as the newest addition to their horse racing ambassadors, won the biggest Cheltenham Festival prize of them all during a glittering career in the saddle when he steered Don Cossack to success in the Gold Cup in 2016. But his early retirement from the sport at the age of 30 took many by surprise and he has since opened up about the mental and physical challenges faced by jockeys.

The Kerry jockey was booked to ride for the likes of Willie Mullins and Joseph O’Brien during the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, but was replaced in the saddle before he quit the weighing room completely just a week later.

The topic of jockey welfare has never been more relevant in light of the tragic loss of Irish jockey Michael O’Sullivan following a fall in a race at Thurles last month.

Now in an exclusive interview with BoyleSports ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, Cooper has admitted a weight was lifted off his shoulders when he decided not to get into his silks:

“I remember going into the races that day and I was never as happy that I wasn’t riding,” Cooper told BoyleSports.

“I looked at my watch and thought, God, this day is ending quickly. I was just enjoying being there, but not actually competing. And I knew then that I’d not be back there riding the next year, that was for certain.

“I’d been in a fall the previous week at Leopardstown and I’d cracked a couple of ribs and I woke up that morning and thought ‘I just can’t go out and ride here.’ I had four rides that day, two for Willie Mullins, one for Joseph O’Brien and one for Noel Meade. Trainers you dream of riding for at Cheltenham.

“I just said I cannot do it. I couldn’t physically pull myself up and go and I dealt with it. Probably a bit stupidly, I said my ribs were sore to buy myself a couple of hours and I just said I can’t do this anymore.

“I knew myself that there was no going back. I broke down and got quite upset, but it was relief off my shoulders just being able to admit it and be up front with people. I was very worried about letting people down, but I got support from the trainers afterwards, because I didn’t come up with a silly story. It was the truth and they could tell it was the truth because I’d probably shown to people that I wasn’t as committed as I used to be.

“I booked a flight and got out of there on the Thursday morning. I stayed in the house and watched the racing on Wednesday, but I was never so happy to be watching it and not competing.

“I came home and I just took a couple of days before I came out and announced it. I done the big interview and I was very honest with how I felt and I think that was the best thing for me to do. And I think people probably respected me more for that.

“It’s not just about what people think, it was for myself too, that I could walk away and say I had a great career. That’s the way I went out, unfortunately it’s not the way you want to go out, but it’s still on your own terms and that’s very important.”

Bryan Cooper is a horse racing ambassador for BoyleSports, alongside former Gold Cup and Grand National-winning jockey, Robbie Power, and trainer Shark Hanlon.

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