It wasn't meant to be like this.
One moment 20-year-old Elliott John Cooper was thrilled to be riding one of Jonjo O'Neil's best horses, Tardar, in Cheltenham's Pertemps Hurdle Final...the next moment, Tardar lay dead and young Elliott was being rushed to hospital.
It was March 16 2004.
Elliott's brother, Liam, had been riding in the same race and had seen him fall. He had told their mother, Elizabeth, who had been watching the race on the television, that it was just a broken nose.
He did not tell her that they had stopped the traffic to get Elliott to hospital. Liam went in the ambulance.
Elliott, born on December 1, 1984, was put in a neck-brace for six hours as they prepared to operate on a fractured skull, crushed nose and collapsed eye sockets. He had been kicked around like a football.
His mother didn't recognise him. He had 80 staples from ear to ear.
Elliott went through a six-hour operation. They took two of his ribs to reconstruct his nose. He had nine plates in his forehead and two in his eye sockets.
Recovery was slow and he was having difficulty breathing through his new nose. Then the Injured Jockeys Fund stepped in and paid for another operation, this time performed by a top Harley Street surgeon, and Elliott was given the third nose of his young life.
Slowly, he got his health back together. He began jogging, working out at the gym and looking after three horses.
Elliott, on leaving school, had gone to Newmarket's British Racing School and, from an intake out 40, had passed out as head boy. From there he joined Dandy Nichols and rode a winner called Referendum in an apprentices' race at Hamilton. The horse hadn't won for two years.
Then Elliott moved to Jonjo's and, a month before his accident, had the most thrilling moment of his life when he brought the ill-fated Tardar home to win the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle qualifier.
Winning by three-parts of a length he said after: 'That was a real buzz. We didn't expect him to win but we came into the straight running away. Not many lads can say that they beat Iris's Gift and Barry Geraghty.'
Elliott was able to return to the track in late October, 2004.
Cockermouth-based Elliott Cooper, with his health restored, took out a licence in 2009 to become Britain's youngest trainer but, in December 2011, fell foul of the Jockey Club. He was disqualified from racing for twelve months on a corruption charge.
He was found in breach of the old Rule 243 – communicating inside information for reward – and old Rule 220(i) – aiding and abetting the commission of a corrupt and fraudulent practice.
Elliott was found to have liaised with his cousin, Cockermouth chef Richard Bowe, by providing information about his horse, Masafi.
Bowe was found in breach of the old Rule 201(v) - committing a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to racing in Britain by laying Masafi to lose and not be placed on June 2 and June 12, 2009 with the benefit of inside information relating to the horse’s prospects.
As well as failing to co-operate with the BHA, he also breached old Rule 220(ix) in that he caused Cooper to communicate inside information for reward.
Bowe was warned off indefinitely, with no application to have the disqualification lifted for 10 years.
The BHA had studied Bowe’s extensive betting against horses handled by former Penrith trainer Jonjo O’Neill - for whom Elliott used to work - during an earlier period, but the disciplinary panel was not convinced he was in possession of inside information.
The betting alert on June 12, 2009, was called through to the Market Rasen stewards by one of the British Horseracing Authority’s betting investigators.
Suspicious betting patterns had emerged in relation to Masafi, which was due to run in the Rum & Rasen Claiming Hurdle over 2m 3f that day.
The horse was to be ridden by Richard Johnson and was trained by Elliott.
A number of individuals had layed Masafi to lose the race. Mr Bowe risked £1,512.64 to win £373.90 in the place market.
According to the BHA disciplinary panel: “This suggested a considerable degree of confidence that the gelding would not be placed. In fact, the gelding was pulled up and Mr Bowe won £373.90.
“Consequent upon this race Mr Bowe’s Betfair account was reviewed by the BHA. It revealed that Mr Bowe had also placed lay bets on Masafi on 2 June 2009 when it ran in the John Wade Skip Hire Selling Hurdle (qualifier) over 2m 1f at Sedgefield.
“The gelding had also been ridden by Richard Johnson on that occasion and finished 9th of 12 runners – being sent off at 9/2 third favourite.
“On 2 June 2009 Mr Bowe risked £1,066.40 to win £330 in the win market and a further £420 to win £500 in the place market.
“What was striking about Mr Bowe’s betting was that, prior to 2 June 2009, he had not placed a bet on his Betfair account for approximately 16 months.
“On 2 June 2009, just over an hour before the race was due to start, a deposit of £1,500 was made into Mr Bowe’s Betfair account from which the two lay bets were placed.
“Following the 12 June 2009 race Mr Bowe withdrew £2,373.71 from his Betfair account on 15 June 2009.
“Mr Bowe has failed to co-operate with the BHA’s investigation and in fact has not substantively responded to any of the BHA’s communications.
“Cooper has co-operated with the BHA’s investigations.
“Cooper has been a licensed trainer since 29 April 2009 and at the time was the youngest ever licensed trainer. He has been employed by Mr George Campbell training from the establishment known as Cumberland Lodge in Cumbria.
“The race on 2 June 2009 at Sedgefield was, in fact, the occasion of Cooper’s first-ever runner as a trainer.
“Cooper was interviewed twice by BHA investigators in connection with the subject-matter to the inquiry.
“At the time of the interviews, he denied passing any inside information to Mr Bowe or discussing any horses’ chances with him.
“He asserted that he was not aware that Mr Bowe had placed lay bets on Masafi.
“In consequence of these events, Mr Bowe’s Betfair account was carefully scrutinised. The review and analysis of the account revealed a very strong bias for Mr Bowe betting on (and, in particular, laying) horses trained by Jonjo O’Neill in 2005 and 2006.
“The period of betting activity coincided with Cooper working at and residing at Jackdaws Castle (from where O’Neill now operates near Cheltenham).
“There was a cessation in Mr Bowe’s betting activity around the time Cooper left Jonjo O’Neill’s employment. “Analysis of Mr Bowe’s Betfair account during that period revealed that of Mr Bowe’s 100 largest liability lays, 77 of them were horses trained by Jonjo O’Neill.
“Of those 77 lay bets, 50 were profitable (i.e. the horse did not win or place) and 47 were made in the place market.”
The Panel accepted the submissions made on Cooper’s behalf that he was very young and inexperienced at the time of these offences. He was the youngest ever trainer licensed in the UK.
The Panel had concerns as to whether Cooper, in view of his inexperience, was given sufficient support and education when beginning his training career.
“It is clear he was working at a yard where he received little support from the owner. The Panel has also taken into account Cooper’s current personal circumstances which are precarious and his evidence as to his recent lack of payment by the yard’s owner.
“The Panel noted, in any event, the likelihood that he will be out of a job and therefore without a house in the near future with a partner and dependant five-year-old child to look after.
“Having noted these matters with some sympathy, the Panel cannot ignore the fact that Cooper passed inside information for reward to another individual facilitating a corrupt and fraudulent practice to take place.
“Trainers have a responsibility and indeed are central to the continuity of integrity that must exist within British Horseracing.
“Taking all these matters into account the Panel believe this matter can be properly dealt with by way of a 12-month disqualification from 20 December 2011 until 19 December 2012 inclusive.
“The Panel is mindful of the hardship that this will bring to Cooper but believe any lesser penalty would fail to recognise the seriousness of the matters found proved.
“The Panel are also mindful that there are currently 10 horses being looked after by Cooper and therefore will allow him 48 hours from the date of receipt of notification of this disqualification to make arrangements with other licensed individuals to take responsibility and care for his horses in training."
