Golden years with Jodami remain unforgettable for Mark Dwyer

As the upcoming Dublin Racing Festival will no doubt show once again, British success on Irish soil is in short supply these days. But 30 years ago it was Jodami who ruled the roost at Leopardstown, as he galloped to his third straight Irish Gold Cup title.

Long before the DRF came into existence, it was the staying chase that was then known as the Irish Hennessy that took centre stage in the Irish capital each February.

The horse who first made the race his own in its earliest guise was Jodami, Peter Beaumont’s northern stalwart, who would also claim the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1993 and proved an unstoppable force on his Foxrock raids between 1993 and 1995.

Mark Dwyer was the man in the saddle for all of Jodami’s finest hours and he remembers a horse who gave him some memories to last a lifetime as his career in the saddle was drawing to a close.

“Jodami was one of the best I’ve ridden for sure, especially on those days at Leopardstown,” said Dwyer.

“Peter Beaumont did a great job training him and it was a real privilege – and it was towards the end of my career as well. He was a fantastic horse and I was very fortunate to get on him.

“These great horses meant everything and your Monday to Friday horses are for everyone, but to get on what you would call a Saturday horse – that is what a jockey is looking for all the way through his career.

“You just want to get on one that can take you all the way to Cheltenham in March and to the big days with a fighting chance.”

No man has won the race as many times as Dwyer, who not only racked up a hat-trick riding Jodami, but was also in the plate aboard his other Cheltenham Gold Cup hero, Jimmy Fitzgerald’s Forgive ‘n Forget, when winning the inaugural 1987 running named after the legendary Vincent O’Brien.

The eight-year-old Jodami was made to work for his first triumph in 1993, all out to beat Martin Pipe’s Chatam. However, he was dominant when retaining the title eased down in 1994, before securing the treble at 10 when running down the front-running Merry Gale after the last.

“Leopardstown is a great track and that race, even though it only began in the 1980s, I was also fortunate to win it with Forgive ‘n Forget as well,” continued Dwyer.

“Jodami got in a very close call with a horse ridden by Peter Scudamore when he won his first Irish Hennessy. I chose not to hit him that day and he only won by a head.

“I just felt he was giving his all and you are not going to gain anything by using the whip and that was one of those days that happens, he was trying his best all the way.

“Then on the other side of the scale, in the third win I got done for over-use of the whip, so there were two different days with the same result.”

In a cruel twist of fate, it would be in Jodami’s quest for a fourth Irish Gold Cup – when valiantly edged out by the hugely-popular Danoli – that he suffered the injury that would end his on-track career.

However, by that time, Jodami’s place in racing folklore was already secured and although his three victories would be bettered by Florida Pearl almost a decade later, there is no doubt about his place among the greats during a dominant period for northern racing.

“I had retired by then and Norman (Williamson) rode him, but he went down graciously in defeat to Danoli, who was a great horse around Leopardstown and a great horse overall,” added, Dwyer.

“He gave his all but unfortunately broke down and we never saw him on a racecourse again.”

He went on: “Peter Beaumont did a great job training him and he was an old-fashioned type of horse, a big, typical National Hunt type. It was a credit to Peter and his family for the way they produced him every time.

“The timing of the Irish Hennessy was crucial in regards to going to Cheltenham and he was a horse where that kind of programme suited him.

“He got beat at Newbury in a Hennessey one of the first times I rode him on a racecourse and then went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season. He was always hard to get fit first time, but he was a progressive horse and as the year went on, he got better and better with racing.

“In the 1990s there were some very good horses in the north. Jimmy Fitzgerald had some very good horses and One Man was as good a horse as there was around in his time up with Gordon Richards, and then Jodami as well. There were some great flagbearers for northern racing at that time.”

For Dwyer, despite never getting his wish of tackling Aintree’s famous Grand National course aboard Jodami, there is simply nothing but admiration for a horse who allowed him to dine at the top table in his final years before retirement.

“He was a very good horse and really underestimated – and he could maybe class himself unlucky not to have won two Cheltenham Gold Cups,” said Dwyer.

“If there was one regret with Jodami, it was I was always trying to persuade the owners to run him in a Grand National, but they weren’t keen. I think he would have figured highly, he was that type of horse – he was a good jumper and he stayed.

“Sadly, that was never to be, but other than that he never missed a beat. When you can ride a horse who wins three Irish Gold Cups and a Cheltenham Gold Cup, that’s as good as it gets.”