Under The Radar: five to note in the yard of Tom Cooper

Amen Kate was impressive in winning her maiden hurdle at Galway last week.  Sent to the front from flagfall by Sam Ewing, Tom Cooper’s mare settled into her rhythm early, she jumped well and she came clear of her rivals on the run up the hill to win impressively.

A really well-bred mare, out of Grade One winner Augusta Kate, and a granddaughter of the unbeaten Christmas Hurdle winner Feathard Lady, the Flemensfirth mare was impressive too in winning her bumper on her racecourse debut last season, and she is just one of a select group of young horses that her Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer has to look forward to for the season ahead.

She’s back to herself now.  She had her issues there last year.  She had an abscess under her tooth, which we treated with antibiotics, but they were only masking the problem really, they weren’t really fixing it.  We got it sorted during the summer though, and she has changed her tune completely.

She ran well on her seasonal return at Listowel, and we were delighted with her at Galway.  Her jumping was very good and Sam said that she gave him a lovely feel.  There’s a mares’ novices’ hurdle now at Punchestown in early December, so we’re aiming at that race with her.  We’re looking forward to her this season.

She ran well in a bumper at the Punchestown Festival on her second run last season to finish second to a horse of Gavin Cromwell’s, Bud Fox.  I think that Gavin rates his horse quite highly, the race is working out really well, and we were staying on again.

She improved on that on her first run this season at Listowel.  She was only getting going at the end of that race, she pulled away and won impressively.  She’ll stay in bumpers for now, but she’s a fine big filly, she’s 16.2hh, and she will be one to look forward to when she goes over fences.  She has done a lot of schooling and she jumps well.  In the shorter term, there are Listed mares’ bumpers at Cheltenham and at Navan the weekend after next, and she may run in one of them.

We liked this horse since we got him, and I put him to Andrew Brooks.  I used to pre-train for Andrew, and I thought that this fellow would be a nice horse for him.

He ran well on his racecourse debut at the Galway Festival, and he stepped up on that at Listowel last time to finish second to a horse of Henry de Bromhead’s, Mister Pessimistic, who won again there at Cork on Sunday.  And the horse of Connor King’s who finished third behind us at Listowel finished second behind Mister Pessimistic at Cork.

He’ll probably go to Cheltenham’s November meeting now for the Listed bumper.  He has a pile of schooling done too, so we’ll look forward to seeing him over hurdles in time.

He won his first two bumpers  in 2024, and then we ran him in the Champion Bumper at Punchestown.  He went to the home turn that day doing handstands, but he stopped quickly.  He did a suspensory.

We got him back last season, but it was too late to go jumping hurdles, so we went straight to the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, and he ran a massive race there to finish third.  He lost his position on the run down the hill but he stayed on up the hill very strongly.  I made the mistake of going to Fairyhouse then after Cheltenham, because he didn’t run his race at all.  He probably bounced, on his second run back after a long break.

He was pulled up on his first run over hurdles at Galway last week.  He didn’t jump a hurdle, which was disappointing.  He schooled during the week beforehand and he jumped very well.  That run at Galway wasn’t his running, he made a bad mistake at the second last flight and Sam pulled him up.  He’s OK, he’ll go for another maiden hurdle now in a couple of weeks.  Softer ground will help him.

He won his bumper on his racecourse debut at Naas in February 2022, but he has had leg trouble, and he hasn’t run much since then.  He was impressive though in winning his maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse in April.  

He’s over his leg trouble now, and we’re looking forward to going chasing with him this season.  We’re just waiting for a bit of soft ground for him and, if we get it, he could go for a beginners’ chase at Naas on Sunday.