'It's a man actually, Derek' - Robert Cooper reflects on infamous Tommo moment and the overwhelming reaction to retirement decision

Popular Sky Sports Racing presenter Robert Cooper on Monday said he was overwhelmed by the reaction to the announcement that he will be putting down his mic after 28 years at the end of next month.

Cooper’s final on-course shift will be at Yarmouth on July 30, having started out in racing with Mecca Bookmakers before joining The Racing Channel, which became At The Races and now Sky Sports Racing.

Cooper said: “I’m not a great one for social media but I did look yesterday after being told to and I was overwhelmed by the amount of nice comments and well-wishers. It’s amazing and there were many people who I’ve not met saying such nice things. Even Tommo rang me up!

“People have come up to me at Lingfield today and asked why I’m finishing but I’ve been reporting on course for 28 years, I’m in my eighth decade and everyone has to stop at some time, so why not now?

“I’ve been really lucky – thousands of people could have done the same job but I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I started out working on the Stock Exchange and did some other quite boring jobs, and never thought I could combine my hobby with work. It’s been fantastic.”

Cooper was involved in a famous clip with Derek Thompson at Hereford one day, when the latter in the studio said to Cooper, "Oh you've been joined by a beautiful lady." With perfect timing, Cooper replied, “It’s a man actually, Derek”.

The clip went viral years later when shared by the Accidental Partridge X account and was even mentioned on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show in 2019.

Cooper said: “People often come up to me and mention that clip. It really did snowball out of all proportions. It was my immaculate timing that made it, I think. There was actually a satellite delay from when Tommo said what he said, which made it sound even better.

“It was extraordinary how it went from gathering dust in an edit suite for years to someone unearthing it and it taking off.”

Mild Illusion and her Old Stoic Racing Club owners, including Robert Cooper, after Listed success at Newmarket in 2019Credit: David Milnes

Racing fans will be pleased to hear Cooper will still be seen on course, through his involvement in the Old Stoic Racing Club syndicate and the enjoyment of following the sport.

“I’ll still go racing as it’s my hobby,” said Cooper, who writes a monthly column for magazine Racing Ahead. “I’ll still be around but the time just felt right to bring the presenting to an end. It’s quite a difficult decision to come to when you’re still enjoying it but I’ve got used to it now and like the idea of a new challenge, whatever it might be.”

Read more . . .

Derek Thompson: 'I simply assumed it was a woman and still laugh about it now' 

'If I said I'd scripted it that would be a lie' - Tommo's words that went viral 

Champagne moment for Sky's Robert Cooper after race named in his honour 

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