Based in Tralee, County Kerry is the stable of Tom Cooper, a quietly-spoken man that prefers to let his horses do the talking for him. He is best known for training Total Enjoyment to win the Cheltenham Festival Bumper in 2004 and more recently, the exploits of Forpadydeplasterer over hurdles and fences.
Principal Jockeys: Barry Geraghty, Sean McDermott
Notable Wins:
- Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase (Forpadydeplasterer 2009)
- I.T.B.A. Fishery Lane Hurdle (River Liane 2008)
- Deloitte Novice Hurdle (Forpadydeplasterer 2008)
- Scarvagh House Stud Mares Novice Hurdle (Total Enjoyment 2004)
- Cheltenham Champion Bumper (Total Enjoyment 2004)
Early Exploits
Tom held a permit to train for a couple of seasons before becoming a full time trainer in 1998 and has enjoyed plenty of success over the years. In the early days, Flying In The Gale did particularly well for him, winning no less than five races. Three of those wins came at his local track in Tralee and this useful hurdler/chaser helped to get him on the map. The consistent Diamond Melody then chipped in with four wins between 1999 and 2001, while Galileo Strike was one of the first winners he trained on the Flat, being was well placed to five races on the level as well as two over hurdles.
Tom also sent out the luckless but admirably consistent Montpelier Street to win two races, but it could have been much more as, in the late summer of 2001, he was very unfortunate not to win at least one premier handicap. His luckless run of form began with him finishing second at the Killarney and Galway Festivals, before making a brave bid to win the prestigious and valuable Irish Cambridgeshire Handicap at the Curragh in early September. Having made every yard of the running under Davy Condon, Montpelier Street was caught in the dying strides by Osprey Ridge. Seven days later, Cooper’s charge adopted similar front-running tactics in the Tote Exacta Premier Handicap at Leopardstown, but again he was headed close home by the smart D’Anjou. Two more second place finishes followed at Cork and at Listowel before he finally gained a well-deserved win at Cork the following July.
Enjoyment In Totality
Undoubtedly, the first real star performer that Cooper had in his care was Total Enjoyment. The daughter of Flemensfirth showed plenty of promise on her debut when finishing third to the smart Blazing Liss in a bumper at the Punchestown Festival in April 2003 and the following December, she delivered on that promise by winning a bumper at Fairyhouse. However, she really came to widespread attention 16 days later when recording a 25 lengths victory in a winner’s event at Leopardstown over Christmas. Put away by connections after that, she was aimed at the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival the following March and under a fine ride from fellow Kerryman, Jim Culloty, Total Enjoyment ran out a decisive 2½ lengths winner, much to the delight of her owners, the It Will Never Last Syndicate. Having been sent off as the well-backed 7/1 second favourite, the mare was given a magnificent reception in the winners’ enclosure after the race and Cooper was hoisted shoulder high amid rapturous scenes of celebration in the winner’s enclosure.
Successful in the Grade 3 Scarvagh House Stud Mares Novice Hurdle on her hurdling debut at Down Royal the following November, Total Enjoyment was sent off as the short-priced favourite for the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse three weeks later, but ran disappointingly in finishing sixth to Wild Passion and was found to be sick after the race. She then re-appeared at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve, but again disappointed in finishing sixth to the subsequent Grade 1 winner, Asian Maze, which incidentally proved to be the last winner trained by the legendary Paddy Mullins before his retirement. Sadly, that would prove to be Total Enjoyment’s last ever appearance, as a couple of weeks later she suffered a serious injury at home and never recovered, despite desperate attempts to save her for breeding purposes, which was obviously a terrible blow for all concerned and especially for her devoted trainer.
The Next Generation Of Stars
Despite the monumental setback of losing what many would consider the horse of a lifetime, luck in racing can often can full circle and in 2007/8, Cooper unearthed not one, but two high-class performers, Forpadydeplasterer and River Liane.
Forpadydeplasterer, owned by the Goat Racing Syndicate which is headed up by well-known publican Charlie Chalke, began his career in promising fashion, winning a bumper at Galway and a maiden hurdle at Navan on his first two starts. Upped to Grade 2 company for his next start, he found just Whatuthink too good at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, but six weeks later he made no mistake in the Grade 1 Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown, beating off the challenge of Cork All Star by 1¼ lengths, prompting rapturous scenes of celebration in the winner’s enclosure. The six-year-olds red-and-white clad followers then headed to the Cheltenham Festival for the Ballymore Properties Novice Hurdle and while he could only finish fourth to Fiveforthree, the promise of the run was very clear and he went into the summer months considered one of the brightest novice chasing prospects for the 2008/9 season.
Forpadydeplasterer made a winning start to his chasing career in a maiden chase at Punchestown in October 2008 and while he found one too good in each of his next three starts in Grade 1 novice chase company, Cooper and the Goat Racing Syndicate returned to Prestbury Park in March for the Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase quietly confident that the less testing going would bring about improvement in the seven-year-old. With a huge contingent of followers on hand to cheer him on, that view was vindicated, with the son of Moscow Society jumping and travelling supremely well on his way to recording a deceptively cosy short-head success over Kalahari King, prompting scenes of celebration and joy in the winner’s enclosure that were notable even by Cheltenham Festival standards.Back on testing ground in Ireland, Forpadydeplasterer found one rival too good in the Grade 1 Swordlestown Cup Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival and again on his seasonal reappearance at Down Royal in November. However, Cooper considered the latter defeat at the hands of Herecomesthetruth a very pleasing effort in the circumstances, given his main early-season target was the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown. Despite ground that was softer than ideal prevailing for that contest, Cooper’s charge still acquitted himself with great credit, finishing second to the impressive Twist Magic under super-sub rider Tony McCoy, showing that is capable of mixing it with the best two milers in training.
Just a few short months after Forpadydeplasterer made his debut, Cooper unleashed his French-import River Liane in devastating fashion at Leopardstown, winning a competitive conditions hurdle in very easy fashion. Sent off as the short-priced favourite for the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival just nine days later, he failed to run to expectations after bursting a blood vessel. However, he did begin to fulfil his promise the following season, making a winning seasonal reappearance in the listed I.T.B.A. Fishery Lane Hurdle at Naas. Lightly-raced for the remainder of the season, without doubt the highlight of his remaining runs came when he finished third to the mighty Brave Inca in the Toshiba Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. This season, Cooper decided to send River Liane over the larger obstacles, a decision that yielded a win at the first time of asking in a maiden chase at Naas in October, with the promise of more to come at an even higher level in the months ahead.
A Bright Future
With his two stable stars looking sure to enjoy further successes this season and for many years to come, as well as the dual bumper winner Lucky William to look forward to, the future looks very bright for the Tom Cooper stable.
Updated December 2009.
