It was billed as 'Defence Forces Day' at the Curragh but a reminder of the virtues of perseverance by the remarkable Gordon Lord Byron turned it into a popular 'Veterans Day' Sunday celebration.
Less than 24 hours after Seventh Heaven achieved classic glory in the Darley Irish Oaks in just her sixth ever start, Gordon Lord Byron turned back the clock to make his 61st race a successful return to winning form in the Group 2 Friarstown Stud Minstrel Stakes.
In recent years, along with another Irish trained gelding, Sole Power, and the now-retired French stalwart, Cirrus Des Aigles, Gordon Lord Byron has been a shining advertisement for keeping top performers in training.
Of course it is an easy argument to make when star male performers are without the necessary equipment to make a potentially lucrative stud career an alternative.
But the reception eight year old Gordon Lord Byron received for his 16-1 defeat of the seven year old Sovereign Debt in the €120,000 feature event left no one in doubt about the hold Tom Hogan’s star still exerts on popular affections.
Seventh Heaven was barely a breeding plan when ‘GLB’ won his first Group 1 in the 2012 Prix de la Foret. Since then he’s won two more Group 1’s, successfully flown the flag around the world, including successfully in Australia, collected almost €2 million in prizemoney, and somehow looks far from finished yet.
“He’s had lifelong problems with allergies, and in the spring we thought we were losing the battle,” Hogan admitted afterwards.
That the Co. Tipperary based trainer got him back for a recent confidence booster at Tipperary before upsetting the odds again at the Curragh says plenty about both his ability and his commitment to what has been his horse of a lifetime.
“He takes the attention of ten horses - but he’s worth it!” Hogan beamed after a steward’s enquiry left the placings unchanged.
It was months after last year’s Minstrel Stakes that Home Of The Brave’s positive drugs saw Gordon Lord Byron ultimately promoted to first but that was a rare plus in a frustrating season. Now the horse appears back in the pink and one firm cut him to 16-1 to repeat his 2013 Haydock Sprint Cup success in September.
“I thought if he was right he was well capable of beating those. I didn’t think there was a Group One horse in against him and, on his day, he’s still a Group One horse. In his work he showed that he was as good as ever,” Hogan pointed out.
Bocca Baciata is a babe in arms compared to 'GLB' but the Group 2 Kilboy Estate Stakes was her 16th start and it produced a career best as Colm O'Donoghue delivered her with a perfectly timed challenge to beat Earring.
The challenge now it to find the "right Group 1 for her" according to trainer Jessica Harrington with next month's Beverly D in Chicago, Woodbine's AP Taylor Stakes and the Prix de l'Opera on Arc day among the list of options.
“She was only getting going. It’s not quite a mile and a quarter there and another 100 yards would have suited her. But she’s got her just reward. She just keeps on improving,” Harrington said.
Dermot Weld is already looking to Rose De Pierre's four year old campaign as the Moyglare owned filly made it two-from-two at the Curragh with a smooth success in the fillies handicap.
“She’s an immature filly and has taken a bit of time to come to hand. She’s a filly that I will enjoy training for the remainder of this year and next year and should mature into a proper filly. We’ll take our time with her,” the local trainer said.
In contrast Ger Lyons is going to waste no time trying to get some valuable black type for the diminutive juvenile maiden winner Velveteen.
“There is very little of her, and it was a brave performance from a bad draw.
We will try to get a stakes race for her, and I don’t imagine we will be looking at her as a three-year-old,” he said.
Ryan Moore ultimately guided Istan to a smooth success in the Nursery despite a less than clear passage.
