Bryan Cooper has reached a crossroads - Nolan star may lead him down bright path

We are approaching the eighth anniversary of Bryan Cooper's first Grade 1 win. It was on 50-1 shot Benefficient in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown on the second Sunday of February 2012.

Cooper dictated steady fractions from the front, stacked the pack up behind him coming down to the second-last and skipped a couple of lengths clear rounding the final bend. The pair met the last on the perfect stride and the baby-faced 19-year-old looked like an old pro on the run-in, stylishly keeping Benefficient up to his work to score by a length and a quarter. He even got first run on Ruby Walsh, who stayed on into second on the favourite Sous Les Cieux.

The reason for bringing the race up now is because Cooper’s name popped up in the press room for the first time in quite a while at Navan before Christmas. He had just given Latest Exhibition a no-nonsense ride to upset the odds-on Andy Dufresne in a Grade 2. It was his first Graded win in over two years, and it prompted a check to see how many Grade 1s the Kerryman had accumulated in his relatively short career.