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.