ON the weekend of the first running of the Irish Gold Cup with its new sponsor Stan James, and on the 30th anniversary of its first staging, it is a good time to look back at one of the early stars of the race when it was sponsored by Hennessy Cognac. The Irish-bred Jodami used his first victory in the showcase race as a springboard to success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and then came back to land the next two runnings of the Leopardstown feature.

Having missed out on competing in 1996, he tried for a fourth win in 1997 on what was to prove to be his final start, and having just failed to peg back Danoli, with Imperial Call back in third, he was pulled up and dismounted soon after the finish and was subsequently found to have ruptured his off-fore tendon.

Thus came to an end a remarkable career that saw him race 39 times, win 18, finish in the first three 33 times and amass prizemoney totalling £478,360. He won for four jockeys in a career that started with a 33/1 victory in a bumper at Kelso as a five-year-old, but he is most famously associated with the Irish-born Mark Dwyer who rode him to all his major successes.

Eamonn Phelan bred Jodami at Ballinabanogue, Co Waterford and sold the son of the Irish National Stud-owned Crash Course as a foal, buying him back a few years later and then offering him for sale on the second day of the 1989 Derby Sale at Tattersalls Ireland. He was knocked down to a cash purchaser for IR12,500gns, before being passed on to his trainer Peter Beaumont for owner John Yeadon.

Yeadon used the first two letters of his sons John’s, David’s and Michael’s names to come up with a name for the then four-year-old. When he raced in bumpers Jodami was partnered by Beaumont’s daughter Anthea Farrell and she was to ride him once more in his career; that was when he won his first chase, again at Kelso where he made his winning debut.

Jodami ran six times over hurdles and won five. Keeping it in the family, he was partnered on each of these starts by Anthea Farrell’s husband Patrick. They were reunited when Jodami made his second start over fences and Patrick retained the mount until the end of the 1991/92 season. Mark Dwyer took over the reins for the gelding’s first run of the 1992/93 season and was in the plate on 22 consecutive starts. Norman Williamson had the mount for Jodami’s final two starts.

Jodami was the best horse ever trained by Beaumont and he paid the following tribute to the great chaser. “If Jodami had met the final fence on a better stride, he might have won a second Gold Cup, but he ran a cracking race all the same. He was a wonderful horse, who never put a foot wrong. He would have won a fourth (Irish Gold Cup) if he hadn’t broken down. In his previous race at Haydock he’d broken the track record at the age of 12.”

Jodami was the best of the 10 offspring produced by his unraced dam. His full-sister Crashtown Lucy won over fences and is grandam of the Grade 1 winning chaser Gemini Lucy, while a half-sister Tynelucy was unraced but bred the Irish Grand National-third Home Farm.

Jodami died on December 1st, 2008 at the age of 23 years. He had suffered an injury in his stable at Beaumont’s yard where he was enjoying his retirement. His last big success was in the Grade 2 Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, a race he also won four years earlier, while other big race wins included the Grade 2 West Of Scotland Novices’ Chase at Ayr and the Grade 2 Edward Hanmer Chase at Haydock.

In addition to his four visits to Leopardstown, Jodami also ran at Punchestown and Fairyhouse. He was third to Second Schedual as a novice at the Punchestown Festival, and went one place better at Fairyhouse when runner-up in the Irish Grand National to Feathered Gale.