Dame Jilly Cooper has been remembered as a figure of \u201ctremendous fun\u201d with a perceptive and inquiring mind that helped her become one of Britain\u2019s best-selling novelists.<\/p>\n
Cooper, who died on Sunday aged 88 after a fall, was famed for her raunchy novels that centred on the sex lives and scandals of a wealthy countryside social circle in which horses and equine sports played a key role.<\/p>\n
The author\u2019s ninth novel, titled Jump!, was about a syndicate which comes together to race a one-eyed horse competing at the likes of the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National meeting.<\/p>\n
As part of her research for the novel, Cooper joined a ladies-only syndicate named the Thoroughbred Ladies who had horses in training with Tom George, whose stables are located in the heart of the author\u2019s literary landscape.<\/p>\n
George said on Monday: \u201cJilly lived locally to us, a couple of miles down the road, and she was very much a local person in terms of how she drew on what was around her to do her writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she wanted to get involved and learn about racing more for her book, that was when we got to know her better, and we saw a lot of her for that period, which was great fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the horses owned by Cooper and trained by George was Island Flyer, a three-time winner over fences, while she was also involved with the syndicate which raced Monty\u2019s Salvo, who was trained by Nicky Henderson.<\/p>\n
Cooper, who was a keen racing fan, also had a horse named after her, with the Johnstons (trainers Charlie and Mark) getting the author\u2019s blessing to give her name to a filly in 2021.<\/p>\n