Lance Cooper clinched his first major Open cutting title in the Breeder’s Invitational Open Derby on May 16, 2026, riding Secretsarising to a 220 and earning $70,833 for new owner Alvin Fults.
For 25-year-old Cooper, the win was validation of a lifetime spent in the cutting pen alongside Hall-of-Fame father Michael Cooper. After years competing as a Non-Pro, Cooper turned in his card in 2021 and began training professionally out of his father’s program.
A smattering of Open finals qualifications and Intermediate Open titles pushed Cooper’s lifetime earnings past the $1 million mark, but the major Open win still eluded him.
Saturday night at the Breeder’s Invitational, everything finally aligned.
The win capped a week of consistency for the pair, who marked a 217.5 in the first go, a 221 in the second and sealed the title in the finals after surviving one of the deepest Derby fields of the season. Three full days of first-go competition created a gauntlet that Cooper believed was nearly harder than the finals themselves.
“This is one of the toughest shows of the year,” Cooper said. “It was harder getting to the finals at this show than it was almost winning the finals because there’s so many good horses.”
For a rider who has spent years watching the sport’s biggest names dominate major events, simply making the finals wasn’t enough. Finishing the job was different.
“I’ve had a lot of Intermediate wins,” Cooper said. “But this was the first one with all the top guys.”
He called it a breakout moment — not because he suddenly believed he belonged, but because the results put him at the top.
“I feel like I have gained respect from everybody, but I’ve never had a spotlight moment,” Cooper said. “Honestly, I think it means more to me in my confidence to believe that I can compete with these guys that have won tens of millions of dollars.”
The “tiny” gelding that made it happen
Secretsarising, a gelding by Badboonarising and out of Frecklesareinstyle by Docs Stylish Oak, had only been in Cooper’s barn for about two weeks before the Breeder’s Invitational.
Cooper had admired the horse for years after previously working him as a younger horse. When Fults called looking for another horse for his son Cade to ride, Cooper immediately knew where to look.
Less than a month into their partnership, Fults added another Breeder’s Invitational title as an owner — his first since Metallic Cat.
Cooper said the horse they call “Kevin” in the barn hardly looked like a future Derby champion.
“He’s mellow. He’s chill. He’s very easy,” Cooper said. “He’s honestly tiny. He’s not very big, especially for a Badboonarising.”
But once he enters the show pen, the little gelding changes.
“I never expected him to be as powerful as he is in the show pen,” Cooper said. “He really brings that insurance.”
And with the derby title, Kevin’s lifetime earnings have more than doubled, from $50,849 to $121,682, according to QData.
Lance Cooper’s greatest win? Letting go
Looking back, Cooper said his biggest lesson from the week had little to do with cattle or horses. After years of chasing a major Open title, he stopped trying to force one.
“You want it so bad … and you want it and you want it,” Cooper said. “It honestly kind of hurts your performance because all you can think about is doing good.”
This time, he simply rode.
“When you don’t have any expectations and you just go do your job, it was incredible what it did,” Cooper said.