Image © Healy Racing
Ashbourne-based handler Jamie Dwyer recorded a landmark success at Turtulla on Sunday when Tumuch made all the running in testing conditions to land the winner-of-one contest.
Owned and trained by Dwyer, the seven-year-old Buck’s Boum gelding was ridden positively by Joey Dunne and made all the running in an attritional contest.
With fence three bypassed on all circuits and only four of the eight runners completing the course, Tumuch jumped well throughout and stretched clear before the last to score by four lengths from the well-fancied favourite Sharp As Glass.
Dwyer admitted afterwards that he went to Turtulla quietly confident.
“I did fancy him,” he revealed. “He’s a horse with plenty of ability. He won his four-year-old maiden well and obviously was bought at the sales for a lot of money.
"Things maybe didn’t work out as hoped under rules, but there’s definitely ability there. I thought if he put it all together on the day, he’d go close, so I wasn’t surprised.”
"Things maybe didn’t work out as hoped under rules, but there’s definitely ability there. I thought if he put it all together on the day, he’d go close, so I wasn’t surprised.”
The testing ground was a concern beforehand, but Tumuch ultimately handled it better than expected.
“He’s a big horse, but he’s a fine mover. I actually think he’d be better on nicer ground, so I was a bit worried about how he’d cope with it, but he just tipped away and ploughed on through it. He got the job done.”
Dunne’s enterprising ride proved crucial, with Tumuch happiest dictating matters from the front.
“That was always the plan to make the running. He’s just not a fan of horses coming around him. When he’s out there on his own, doing his own thing, he’s much happier, and that’s the way we rode him.
"Joey was brilliant on him. He rides work for me and does a bit of schooling whenever I need him, so I was delighted with the ride.”
"Joey was brilliant on him. He rides work for me and does a bit of schooling whenever I need him, so I was delighted with the ride.”
The victory marked a significant breakthrough for Dwyer, coming with just his seventh runner since taking out his handler’s licence in 2023. His first point-to-point runner, Willwetakerher, appeared at Tyrella in March 2024.
“It’s hard to describe, really,” he said of the feeling of training and owning his first winner.
“We’d been knocking on the door a couple of times, so it was great to finally get one. My father and my girlfriend were there on the day, which made it even more special. We all got to shout him home together.”
Dwyer paid particular tribute to his support team, with his father David and girlfriend Rachel White both playing key roles, the latter riding out Tumuch the majority of the time at home and leading him up on the day.
His older brother Danny is also heavily involved at home, helping with the day-to-day work including feeding, mucking out and general yard duties.
His older brother Danny is also heavily involved at home, helping with the day-to-day work including feeding, mucking out and general yard duties.
Tumuch was making his first start for Dwyer, having already enjoyed a notable career. He made a striking debut between the flags when winning a four-year-old maiden at Lingstown in December 2023, a performance that saw him sold for £335,000 at the Tattersalls December Sale later that month. He subsequently joined Gordon Elliott, running seven times under rules.
Dwyer explained how the horse came into his care.
“I’ve known his previous owner Eamon Waters all my life through hunting with the Ward Union.
“He was getting rid of a few horses and I was annoying him for a long time about Tumuch. Eventually he gave him to me to point-to-point. Fair play to him.”
Now two from two in points, Tumuch appears firmly back on track, and he has come out of his latest success in fine order.
“He’s brilliant,” Dwyer reported. “He wouldn’t even know he had a race. He licked the pot clean, and when I let him out into the field the next morning he galloped away, happy out.”
Dwyer has now a local target in mind for Tumuch.
“Our local Ward Union meeting at Oldtown in The Folly is on in about a month, and there’s a winners-of-two there and that would be the plan. If we could get the job done there, it would be brilliant.”
Thirty-one-year-old Dwyer is based in Robertstown, just outside Ashbourne, and has spent the bulk of his working life with Jim and Tom Dreaper, a stone’s throw from home. He has long been involved in sales preparation and pre-training for many local trainers including Gavin Cromwell and John McConnell, alongside breaking and producing young horses at home.
“I’ve always grown up with horses and hunting.
“The family have always been hugely involved with the Ward Union. My brother Danny whips in with the hunt, and I try to get out hunting myself as much as possible. I did my work experience in Dreaper’s when I was in school and I’ve been there ever since, about 15 years now. That’s where I learned my trade.”
Dwyer currently operates from a small but practical home set-up where he has plenty of room to expand in the future and the added bonus of access to Dreaper’s gallops.
“I’m very lucky,” he said. “I can ride my horses across two fields and I’m on Dreaper’s gallop. They’re very good to let me use it and I really appreciate it.”
While he never held a jockey’s licence, Dwyer still rides all of his own work and remains hands-on day to day, helped by White, with local riders Dara O’Sullivan and Paddy O’Brien also on hand to ride when required.
Dwyer currently has three horses in training with hunter certificates issued, including Major Andy and My Doyen, along with some nice younger stock.
“For this season, the goal was just to have a winner. We’ve done that now, so anything else is a bonus. We’ll just try to build on it and expand a bit.”
With his first winner now on the board, Dwyer is quietly optimistic about what lies ahead.
“I love training horses.
“Point-to-pointing is the focus for now, but further down the line I’d love to take out a trainer’s licence. The gates will always be open, and if anyone ever wanted to send one, I’d take it.”
“Point-to-pointing is the focus for now, but further down the line I’d love to take out a trainer’s licence. The gates will always be open, and if anyone ever wanted to send one, I’d take it.”
