The outstanding racing career of champion jumper The Cossack is likely to have come to an end after the horse suffered a suspensory ligament injury six days out from a much-awaited clash with West Coast in this Saturday’s $100.000 Grand National Steeplechase.
The 11-year-old gelding is one of four horses the Hastings training partnership of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal have taken down to Christchurch for the Grand National meeting but he will not be starting in the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) and will instead be going out for a lengthy spell.
Nelson said The Cossack was fine last Saturday but the injury to his off-side foreleg was noticed after he worked Sunday morning.
“It blew up on Sunday and we got it scanned the next day and it didn’t look good,” Nelson said.
Nelson, who part-owns The Cossack with three other Hawke’s Bay men, Peter and Doug Grieve and John Frizzell, hasn’t ruled out a return to racing for the son of Mastercraftsman, but admitted that is unlikely.
“He is definitely out for the season and will probably be retired,” he said.
“He’s been very sound until now but he’s now 11 and there isn’t much more he can do.
“It just would have been good to win the Grand National before he was finished.”
The Cossack is the winner of 19 races from 60 starts and has also recorded six seconds and five thirds. His stake earnings total $690,641.
He was bred by Hawke’s Bay’s Ivan Grieve and was initially raced by him in partnership with Hastings trainer John Bary.
The horse recorded wins from the Bary stable in his three and four-year-old seasons but was then winless for two years and Bary elected to try the gelding over hurdles.
Bary enlisted the services of leading jumps jockey Aaron Kuru, who guided The Cossack to a runner-up effort in his hurdle debut.
Kuru was impressed with the way the horse took to jumping and passed on his thoughts to Nelson, who already had The Cossack on his radar as a potential jumping star.
“He had a couple of hurdle races and Aaron (Kuru) rode him and said he liked him. When he became available for sale we didn’t waste much time (in buying him),” Nelson said.
The Cossack finished runner-up in his first two starts for Nelson before breaking through for his maiden hurdle victory at Te Aroha in August 2020.
His first prestige win came two months later when taking out the Great Northern Hurdle (4190m) at Ellerslie. He continued his dominance the following year when taking out the Waikato Hurdle (3200m), Wellington Hurdle (3100m), and Grand National Hurdles (4200m) before defending his crown in the Great Northern.
The Cossack picked up where he left off in 2022 when winning all three of his jumping starts in New Zealand, including the KS Browne Hurdle (3100m), Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) and maiden steeplechase, before Nelson decided to test his charge across the Tasman. The Cossack ran fifth in the Australian Grand National Hurdle (4200m) before lugging topweight of 70kg and getting to within a half head of winner St Arnicca in the Grand National Steeplechase (4500m).
The Cossack transitioned to a career over steeples upon his return to New Zealand and added further prestige titles to his record, including the Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4800m), and Wellington Steeplechase (5500m) in his final raceday outing at Trentham last month.
Nelson, who has prepared numerous top jumpers over the past 40 years, had no hesitation in naming The Cossack as the best he has trained, saying the horse was not only an outstanding hurdler but he also went on to become a champion steeplechaser.
“Every win was great,” Nelson said. “It is hard to choose one highlight, but his second in Australia was up there too. He ran a good race in the hurdle, and he had to carry top weight in the steeplechase at only his second steeplechase start and he only got beaten by half a head.
“He is one of those horses that don’t come around very often. He has hardly been beaten in hurdle racing and he has hardly been beaten in his steeplechasing career as well. It takes a special horse to do that.”
The Cossack’s injury came as a double blow for the Nelson/McDougal stable after their charge Dictation lost his rider at the final fence in last Saturday’s Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) at Riccarton when clear in the lead.
Dictation was several lengths ahead of race favourite Berry The Cash coming to the last but got it all wrong, ploughing through the fence and throwing rider Hamish McNeill out the side.
Nelson said Dictation took no harm from the mishap and will be looking to redeem himself when he contests the $30,000 0-1 win hurdle race over 3100m this Saturday.
Nelson and McDougal are also looking forward to lining up Nedwin in the $100,000 Hospitality New Zealand Canterbury 134th Grand National Hurdles (4200m).
The 10-year-old gelding heads into the race in winning form, having taken out the Wellington Hurdles (3200m) at Trentham last month, and the stable is looking for a change of luck.
“It will be nice to have a bit of change in luck as the last few days haven’t been that good,” he said.
While The Cossack has been ruled out of the Grand National Steeplechase, Nelson and McDougal will have another contender in the race in Al’s Red Zed, who finished fourth in the Koral Steeplechase (4250m) last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Nelson is urging the jumps racing fraternity to rally together in the wake of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s release of their consultation document on the future of jumps racing.
“We need to encourage every participant in jumping to make a submission to NZTR, that is the most important thing,” he said.
“I am certain there is enough support for jumps racing, but if people are lethargic about sending in a submission then we will be down the tube.”
Fannin welcomes jumps racing consultation
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s (NZTR) release of their consultation document on the future of jumps racing on Monday may have come as a surprise to many, but not leading jumps jockey Shaun Fannin.
The Central Districts horseman has been a key figure in New Zealand jumps racing for more than a decade and has won multiple New Zealand Jumps Jockeys’ Premierships, but in the last couple of seasons he has been transitioning to a career a trainer and has been reducing his commitments in the saddle.
Fannin is now committed to just riding his own horses, as well as champion jumper West Coast, who he guided to victory in the Koral Steeplechase (4250m) at Riccarton last Saturday, just two days prior to NZTR releasing their consultation document on the future of jumps racing.
It was a welcome announcement according to Fannin, who said the jumps racing fraternity has been seeking action from the sport’s governing body for the last few years.
“It (jumps racing) has been under a bit of pressure for a few years now and we have been trying to make suggestions to help improve it for a fair while,” Fannin said.
The consultation period will run through to September 6, with NZTR proposing two options – the continuation of the sport with a dedicated strategy and additional investment, or a managed wind-down and eventual closure of jumps racing.
Jumps racing has played a pivotal role in Fannin’s career and he believes it is a vital part of the New Zealand racing industry, particularly for career development.
Fannin and fellow top jumps jockey Shaun Phelan are both prime examples of this, with both horsemen now forging successful careers in the training ranks.
“It (jumps racing) has been everything to my career, starting off there and then leading towards where I am today (training),” he said.
Fannin said the biggest issue jumps racing is facing at the moment is the shortage of jumps jockeys.
“I think there is no lack of jumping horses around, the problem is most definitely with the riders,” he said.
“There is a big opportunity with riders overseas if NZTR wanted to come together as an entity and advertise for riders to come over for a six-month period.
“Joshua Parker (English jumps jockey) is over here now. They can’t get rides overseas and he has ridden numerous winners since he has been here, and he is trying to spread the word back there.
“I think Visas are a bit of an issue, but NZTR are a big enough entity to have some pull to be able to get work visas over here for them. I am sure that will solve most of the problems.
“There are certainly a lot of jumpers around and at the moment they are having to scratch because there aren’t enough riders around.”
Fannin said jumps racing is also a major player in extending the racing careers of many thoroughbreds and it helps reduce the bottleneck in rehoming retired racehorses.
Fannin is urging racing participants to read the consultation paper and have their say by submitting their feedback to NZTR.
They are asked to send answers to the following questions to jumpsreview@nztr.co.nz.
- Do you share the view of NZTR that doing nothing is not an option?
If no, why?
If yes, which option do you recommend and why?
2. Are there other aspects of Jumps racing that have not been considered as part of the information provided in this consultation document?
3. What are the three main considerations for the industry in making a decision on the future of Jumps racing? Rank these in order of importance.
4. Are you a current jumps participant a trainer, jockey, owner or breeder?
If yes, based on status quo is your level of investment or participation likely to change in the next 12 – 24 months? If so, how?
If no, would you consider investment or participation going forward?
5. Any further comments or suggestions