interview | eddie jordan
Eddie with his wife Marie
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Cheltenham Festival just manages to get that little touch extra ahead of them all,” he enthuses. “It’s because of the numbers of the people, the enthusiasm of the people, the horses that are here, the champions…But jumping is much more of an Irish thing than the flat, even though of course the flat is important, and hugely followed. I think it’s the excitement of seeing horse and man and the whole thing of taking the jumps.” But with his TV pundit career keeping him in the Formula 1 milieu, Eddie is showing no signs of slowing down. “It’s the start of the Grand Prix season and I’m lucky to be here today. We did all the shooting for the early programme yesterday, and I’m shooting for Top Gear in the next couple of days, so as you can imagine I’m happily able to say that I am very busy.”
e is the maverick sportsman and entrepreneur who’s kissed the Blarney Stone aplenty and weathered more storms than Dun Laoghaire harbour. But while fast cars and a roller coaster ride F1 career
trajectory have defined him, Dubliner Eddie Jordan reckons his love of jump racing, and Cheltenham in particular, owes more to a hefty glint of Emerald Isle DNA than to a need for speed. “I’ve got three great passions,” he tells me, eyes twinkling as we sit in a Chez Roux box on Ladies’ Day, snatching time as the turf trembles between the Neptune Novices Hurdle and the 2.10pm RSA Chase. “Cycling is one and then there’s motor racing of course, but being here at
That, to be fair, seems to have always been the case. Only a singular and irrepressible energy could have propelled a young Dublin bank clerk to try his hand at kart racing, to then go on to win the Irish championship, then progress to racing Fords. Sharp as a tack, with a gift for blarney, banter and mental arithmetic, Eddie Jordan never dreamed small. His first Formula Ford sponsorship deal with a carpet shop saw him flogging the remnants he was given in lieu of cash at Dublin’s Dandelion Green Saturday market. Deals like this were all part of the learning curve that arced from Formula Ford to
Cheltenham, for me is like being at home in Ireland. I’m here with Lee McKenzie, my co-presenter, and she just said to me ‘my God Eddie, more people want pictures of you here than they do at the Grand Prix!’” I confess I didn’t have him down as a Lycra-clad two-wheel enthusiast, but it seems that the thundering hooves of Prestbury Park are as natural a fit as thrumming maximum thrust engines. “It’s because I’ve always had horses. I’ve always been with trainer Mouse Morris
Eddie helps to present the Ladies’ Day prize
Formula 3 and Formula 2. Realising that his talents in wheeler dealing and spotting glimmers of opportunity would be best used in management rather than in the driving seat, Eddie Jordan Racing then burst on to the Formula 1 circuit as Jordan Formula One in 1991 – the new, independent kid on the block. Gracing the grids and podiums for 14 seasons, an embattled Eddie took on the Goliaths of the sport in typical buccaneering spirit. He battled bankruptcy, won races, battled bankruptcy and won more races. Eddie gave Michael Schumacher his F1 break, and drivers including Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jean Alesi, Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Johnny
and because I love jump racing, much more so than the flat racing. As a result Cheltenham is like, well, it’s the first thing you put in the diary, definitely. But then it’s not difficult because it’s always around St Patrick’s Day,” he laughs. “The problem used to be that it was always at the start of the Grand Prix season, but wisely, everyone decided to make it a week later and Australia’s not until next week, so it means I can be here.” Eddie clearly relishes every aspect of the whole Festival spirit. “Punchestown is very special and Royal Ascot in terms of the flat is always nice in the summer, but I have to say that the
jump online book tickets at
book hospitality And restaurants by calling 01242 537653
diary dates The Festival, March 13-16, 2018
cheltenham.co.uk or call 0344 579 3003
Eddie with his wife Marie
Kalendar 17
16 Kalendar
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