"If I had, I would carry on," reflected the 75-year-old as he finalised plans for his last entries who are likely to feature at low-key
meetings at Sedgefield and Southwell next week. "But I haven't so I won't renew my training licence at the end of the month."
Though both tracks have modest appeal, they are a far cry from
Cheltenham and the brilliant Louis Vuitton Fake Handbags jumper Jodami's finest hour in 1993 when he galloped into the history books despite losing a shoe on the turn for home.
Or the likes of Haydock and Ayr where Beaumont enjoyed so much success with great staying horses like Young Kenny, JJ Henry, Bobby Grant and Hussard Collonges, who won the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham as recently as 2002.
Top chasers, they were all fortunate to have had such an astute trainer who always abided by the timeless maxim 'quality before quantity'.
For, while the likes of Paul Nicholls, David Pipe and Nicky Henderson train more than 100 horses, Beaumont never had more than 30 animals at any one time at his idyllic Foulrice Farm at Brandsby.
It has been his home for 41 years. Born in Harrogate, Beaumont grew up in Ripley a his father farmed and trained point-to-point horses.
He clearly inherited his father's love of the countryside. Beaumont, too, milked cows for a living before enjoying considerable success in point-to-point racing.
He only began training under National Hunt rules in 1986. He always had a good eye for a horse and thought he could make a living from the sport. So it proved with his discovery of Jodami a the future champion who was to be the last of the great generation of Yorkshire-trained Gold Cup heroes that comprised Alverton, Little Owl, Silver Buck, Bregawn and Forgive 'N' Forget.
"I'd gone to Ireland to look at a couple of other horses. I had an hour to spare so Frank Berry, JP McManus's racing manager, suggested I saw this other horse," recalled Beaumont.
"This horse was stood in the Army barracks on The Curragh. He belonged to a commandant in the Irish Army. He was just a nice horse so I bought him for John Yeadon, an owner of mine.
"It was only when we got him back, he did a gallop for the first time and then won his first race a a Bumper at Kelso in March 1990 a that we realised we had something special."
The horse was registered as Jodami because its owner wanted a name that incorporated his Christian name John and also those of David and
Michael, his two sons.
One of the biggest challenges was getting the horse fit each
season. "He summered too well on Mr Yeadon's lush grass at his farm at Kirby Overblow," revealed Beaumont.
Yet the trainer worked his magic. Jodami's 18 wins also included three Hennessy Cognac Gold Cups in Ireland. His final victory a the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock in January 1997, the highlight of today's Replica Gucci Bags racing programme a saw him break the course record as a 12-year-old.
But it is the Gold Cup victory which remains etched in the memory. Unlike many of today's high-profile trainers, Beamount drove the horse box from north of York to Cheltenham on the eve of the 1993 Gold Cup.
"I always used to drive the wagon," he said. "Mind, we had to delay the return to the morning after the Gold Cup. I remember the race like yesterday. A bit of apprehension, a lot of excitement, and then when he slipped on the last bend and lost a shoe.
"To think how close he came the following year to winning two in a row. One good stride at the last and he might have done so. Still not many have done so a Arkle, Best Mate. We did well to get so close."
It is why the Yeadon family were always inundated with offers to buy Jodami. They always re
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