Gold Cup hero Don Cossack retired
BY DAVID BAXTER 10:40AM 11 JAN 2017
DON COSSACK, winner of last year's Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup, has been retired.
Eddie O'Leary, racing manager for Gigginstown House Stud, confirmed the ten-year-old will not return to the track, having failed to recover from a tendon injury sustained last April.
"I saw him last week and he had legs like steel, so this comes as a big surprise as we thought we had him back," O'Leary said.
With Don Cossack now retired, this year's Gold Cup is unlikely to feature either of the last two winners as connections of Coneygree revealed earlier in the week that they will not enter the 2015 winner.
Trainer Gordon Elliott revealed Don Cossack had met with a setback, which led to his retirement.
Quoted on his Betfair blog, Elliott said: "We found that he had a bit of heat in his leg yesterday [Tuesday] and we've made the decision to call time.
"It's a real sickener for Gigginstown, myself, Bryan Cooper and the whole yard. We knew it was never certain we would get him back to the racecourse and even after that, to get him back to his best, but we were hopeful and he was on track for a run at Gowran Park next month.
"He's a horse of a lifetime and he owes us nothing. I said all season that if he had any sort of setback at all we would not abuse him and retire him straight away."
BY DAVID BAXTER 10:40AM 11 JAN 2017
DON COSSACK, winner of last year's Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup, has been retired.
Eddie O'Leary, racing manager for Gigginstown House Stud, confirmed the ten-year-old will not return to the track, having failed to recover from a tendon injury sustained last April.
"I saw him last week and he had legs like steel, so this comes as a big surprise as we thought we had him back," O'Leary said.
With Don Cossack now retired, this year's Gold Cup is unlikely to feature either of the last two winners as connections of Coneygree revealed earlier in the week that they will not enter the 2015 winner.
Trainer Gordon Elliott revealed Don Cossack had met with a setback, which led to his retirement.
Quoted on his Betfair blog, Elliott said: "We found that he had a bit of heat in his leg yesterday [Tuesday] and we've made the decision to call time.
"It's a real sickener for Gigginstown, myself, Bryan Cooper and the whole yard. We knew it was never certain we would get him back to the racecourse and even after that, to get him back to his best, but we were hopeful and he was on track for a run at Gowran Park next month.
"He's a horse of a lifetime and he owes us nothing. I said all season that if he had any sort of setback at all we would not abuse him and retire him straight away."
not long now!!