Gordon Lord Byron, who died as a twelve-year-old after collapsing on the gallops of County Tipperary trainer Tom Hogan in June, 2020, epitomised the type of rags-to-riches story that is always possible in the uncertian world of horse racing. Puchased for just €2,000 as a foal, the son of Byron passed unsold through the sales ring as a yearling, but during his ten-year racing career won
16 of his 108 starts and was placed second or third on a further 32 occasions, earning a total of £1.92 million in prize money. Indeed, Gordon Lord Byron, who was officially rated 118 in his prime, was still officially rated 105 at the time of his death.
His major victories included three at the highest Group One level, namely the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp in 2012, the Sprint Cup at Haydock in 2013 and, perhaps most notably, the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill in Sydney, Australia in 2014. The latter success made him the first European-trained horse ever to win a Group One sprint in Australia.
Indeed, the ‘fairytale’ story of Gordon Lord Byron, who fractured his pelvis on his racecourse debut and was sidelined for over a year, but rose through the ranks to become one of the most remarkable racehorses of modern times, is the subject of an award-winning documentary, ‘Against The Odds – Racing With Lord Byron’, produced by Nicholas Ryan-Purcell. Tom Hogan described his stable star simply as, ‘Life changing’.