Cooper to reunite with dual Guineas winner
Donovan Cooper made a winning return to the saddle at Ashburton on Sunday, and just four days later he will be reunited with his favourite horse, dual Guineas winner Hello Hayley (NZ) (Hello Youmzain), at Ascot Park.
The Canterbury-based apprentice jockey has been sidelined for the last couple of months while recovering from shoulder surgery, and while his return to raceday riding took longer than anticipated, the wait was made worthwhile after he piloted the Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained Grove Street to victory on his first day back.
“It was sensational,” Cooper said. “I didn’t think much of my rides on the day, but the Pitmans did tell me that I would get a winner for them from the two rides, they just weren’t sure which one it would be. They told me to ride how I feel and just be positive.
“I was a bit nervous for my first ride but once I got out of the gates everything just came back quite naturally.
“It has been a long road, but I am really grateful to be able to come back with a winner on my first day back.
“I was off for longer than I expected. Initially I thought I would be back at the start of October. There was just a slight delay in getting everything strong enough for the physio to pass me to race.
“You have got to get the shoulder to 90-95 percent strength wise of what your other shoulder is.
“I returned to track work on the 14th of September and then just rode track work until the 13th of October and had a few jump outs during that time to get the shoulder used to coming out of the gates. The week before trials the physio put me through a couple of tests and the results were positive, so she cleared me straight away for trials and races.”
Cooper is hoping his winning momentum continues to Ascot Park on Thursday, where he has a full book of rides on the eight-race card, including Hello Hayley in the Nigel Robertson Building Handicap (1200m).
The Sophie Price-trained mare is a sentimental favourite for Cooper, having won both the Listed Southland Guineas (1400m) and Listed Dunedin Guineas (1600m) on her last season.
Cooper wasn’t cleared in time for Hello Hayley’s resuming run at Ashburton earlier this month, where she won under northern hoop Jasmine Fawcett.
While Cooper thought he had missed the bus and was no longer wanted for Hello Hayley, he was delighted to receive a call from Price requesting his services.
“I am a bit lucky,” he said. “I had to get off one to get back on her, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
“It is pretty hard not to try and get back on a horse like that, especially with the fact that she has given me most of my highs last season, and she was my breakout horse of the year.”
Cooper has received positive reports from Price ahead of Thursday, and he was pleased to see she has drawn barrier two.
“She is going really well and they are happy with where she is at,” he said.
“It looks like the race is going to map out really well, it is just whether the right gaps come at the right time. I will just go into it like she is the best horse in the race and ride her like I normally ride her.”
Cooper is also upbeat about several of his other rides, including debutants Moet Amour and Leavitt in the McCallums Group Maiden (1200m) and Cruikshank Pryde Maiden (1200m) respectively, and The Cool One in the Ascot Christmas At The Races December 12 (1600m).
“Moet Amour is a really nice maidener I like of Ebony Turner’s,” Cooper said. “I rode her at the jump outs last week and I think she is quite a nice type. I am really impressed with the way she went.
“Leavitt seems a pretty promising three-year-old for Len and Lacy Stewart. I rode her at the Timaru trials and she made up quite a bit of ground coming from the back of the field. She was slightly under a ride because she needed a wee blowout and a push, but I was quite impressed with how easily she picked most of them up.
“I also like The Cool One for Robert (Dennis). I never write off Robert at Ascot, he just flies when they are there.”
