Minella Cocooner

Trained by Willie Mullins but currently a horse that’s overshadowed by the wealth of talent in the Closutton Yard, Minella Cocooner is a strong, staying chaser that already has success at a high level and looks the kind of runner that would relish the staying test that a Grand National brings.

He’s a horse that jumps well, stays strongly, and loves to tough it out in bad conditions, a real stamp of a horse, the type that loves a battle.

Minella Cocooner’s Early Years

It was early 2022, during his novice hurdling season when Minella Cocooner jumped onto the scene and showed us what he was all about.

He would win a Grade One at the Dublin Racing Festival, before finishing second in Grade One events at the Cheltenham Festival and Punchestown Festival. All over three miles, it was a sign of huge promise, and the horse looked like it had the makings of a top-class staying chaser at this point.

He would go chasing the following season, and while success was harder to come by, he was running close in behind some top-quality animals, running to a high level of form.

Third in the Irish Grand National, despite still being a novice, was a real highlight in 2024, and in his race after, he would go to the UK and go one better. The Sandown Coral Gold Cup, a huge end of season staying handicap, was won in great style by Minella Cocooner, getting up in the closing stages after coming with a late burst.

His run in the Irish Grand National (3m5f) and the Coral Gold Cup (3m4f) showed that this horse was all about one thing, and that was stamina.

Since then, he’s been a regular in Grade One contests, which has seen him run behind the likes of Fact To File and Galopin Des Champs, showing the kind of hot contests he’s been placed into. Known as a horse that stays, jumps well and loves the mud, he’s got plenty going for him in Grand Nationals and other races that would require that kind of horse.

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