JOHN FOWLER:JOHN FOWLER, a leading light in equestrian circles, was killed last week when the branch of a tree that had already been brought down fell on him in a freak accident at his farm Rahinston, in Summerhill, Co Meath. He was 62.
For many years he had been a successful trainer and had saddled Freemantle Doctor in the Drogheda Handicap Chase at Navan the day before he died. It was not only as a trainer and as a leading amateur jockey that he succeeded - he was an all-round horseman and was a member of the Irish equestrian team at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
John was the son of Brig Fowler, also well-known in the equestrian world, who was master of the Meath foxhounds and a member of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee. Since the early years of the 19th century, the Fowlers have farmed and bred horses on the 850 acres at Rahinston. John was very attached to the place and refused to sell even when offered a fabulous sum of money for it. He continued farming and running the stable after his father's death.
Under the tuition of "The Brig", as his father was always known, John and his sister Jessica (the trainer Jessica Harrington) grew up riding, and were involved in eventing, hunting and in the pony club. They were the first brother and sister to be on the team when they represented Ireland at the European Eventing Championship in 1967.
John was educated at Eton - and it is rumoured that he purposely failed his entrance to Oxford as he thought he could return home and ride racehorses while attending Trinity College Dublin, but his father sent him to McGill University in Canada where he gained a first-class honours degree in biochemistry.
On his return, he looked for a job that would allow him to ride races; Guinness's said that as their managing director, Mark Hely-Hutchinson, was a keen amateur jockey, there were enough riders looking for time off in the company. So he went to work for Pegasus Horse Nuts. In 1971, he married Jennifer (Chich) Chichester, the daughter of the Marquess of Donegall.
As one of the leading amateur jockeys, he rode 243 winners as well as over 200 point-to-point winners between 1962 and 1989. His first win was on his father's popular grey horse, Mr Rumford, in 1965.
John Fowler was the last of the true gentlemen riders. He did not accept a penny in fees. This complicated life for the other amateurs who were less scrupulous. When a jockey approached PP Hogan, the Limerick trainer, for at least his travel expenses, he was told: "All John Fowler ever had off me was a silver teapot engraved with the names of the 70 winners he rode for me." His victories included back-to-back wins in Cheltenham's National Hunt Chase when in 1978 Gay Trip, trained by Mick O'Toole, was first passed the post and Arctic Ale, trained by Dan Moore, won the next year. As an amateur, he rode in all the big hunter chases in Ireland. He won the amateur riders handicap at the Galway Festival in 1976 and, in the next year, the Conyngham Cup on Drumroan. He took out a full trainer's licence in 1978. With his meticulous attention to detail and organisational abilities, he did remarkably well with a small string of horses. He gave his horses plenty of time to develop and had great success with Banker's Benefit and Opera Hat, who had 15 wins, nine of them at Naas, while with Maid of Money, he won the Irish Grand National at Fairy House in 1989.
John always encouraged young people, particularly in race riding. Some of the leading jockeys have been protégés of his. In the pony club, the Fowlers were generous in loaning horses and ponies to children who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to ride and for many years John did the commentary at pony club events.
For 20 years, he was on the committee of the Irish Racehorse Trainers' Association and was a very active committee member of the Fairyhouse Racecourse.
He is survived by his wife Chich and his sons Harry and Charlie.
John Robert Henry Fowler was born January 2nd, 1946; died December 15th, 2008