| Don Cossack | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Owner_Mr_W_B_Connors.svg) &sq=&lang=&file=File:Owner_Gigginstown_House_Stud.svg) Racing silks of W B Connors and Gigginstown House Stud | |
| Sire | Sholokhov |
| Grandsire | Sadler's Wells |
| Dam | Depeche Toi |
| Damsire | Königsstuhl |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 21 March 2007[1] |
| Country | Germany |
| Colour | Brown |
| Breeder | Gestut Etzean |
| Owner | W B Connors Gigginstown House Stud |
| Trainer | Edward Hales Gordon Elliott |
| Record | 27: 16-4-2 19:12-3-1 (Chases) 4:1-1-1 (Hurdles) 4:3-0-0 (Bumpers) |
| Earnings | £907,365 |
| Major wins | |
| Future Champ INH Flat Race (2011) Drinmore Novice Chase (2013) Daily Star Chase (2014, 2015) Powers Irish Whiskey Chase (2014) Punchestown Chase (2015) Kinloch Brae Chase (2015, 2016) Melling Chase (2015) Punchestown Gold Cup (2015) JNwine.com Champion Chase (2015) Cheltenham Gold Cup (2016) | |
| Awards | |
| Top-rated National Hunt horse (2015, 2016) Irish Horse of the Year (2015) | |
Don Cossack (foaled 21 March 2007) is a retired German-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. Since his second race the gelding has been owned by the Gigginstown House Stud and trained in County Meath by Gordon Elliott. He was ridden by many leading jockeys including Nina Carberry, Davy Russell, Bryan Cooper, Barry Geraghty, A. P. McCoy and Paul Carberry.
Don Cossack showed promise in his early career, winning three National Hunt Flat races and a novice hurdle before being switched to steeplechasing in the autumn of 2013. In his first season over fences he won two races including the Drinmore Novice Chase and finished second in three other major novice events.
In the 2014/2015 National Hunt season he established himself as one of the best chasers in training by winning six of his seven races. He won the Daily Star Chase, Powers Irish Whiskey Chase, Punchestown Chase and Kinloch Brae Chase in Ireland before sustaining his only defeat of the season in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham. He produced his best form in spring by winning the Melling Chase and the Punchestown Gold Cup and ended the season as the highest-rated National Hunt performer in Britain and Ireland.
In the following season he won a second Daily Star Chase and then took the JNwine.com Champion Chase but fell when favourite for the King George VI Chase. He won a repeat victory in the Kinloch Brae Chase and then recorded his biggest win in the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was rated the best National Hunt performer in Britain and Ireland for the second time in May 2016. He was retired from racing in January 2017 following a recurrence of a tendon injury which had prevented him from reappearing after his Gold Cup win.[2]
- ^ "Don Cossack pedigree". Equineline.
- ^ "Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Don Cossack retired". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.