TOM Hogan and the Cahalan family have been inundated with messages of support following the sudden death this week of their star sprinter, Gordon Lord Byron.

The 12-year-old suffered a suspected heart attack during exercise on Tuesday morning and died instantly.

Winner of 16 races from 108 starts, Gordon Lord Byron won three Group 1 races in England, France and Australia. He ran in seven countries and won over €2 million in win and place prize money.

“He was in great order and did a great piece of work last Thursday up the Old Vic gallop,” reported the Nenagh, Co Tipperary trainer. “He was treated as part of the family here and he led a very pampered and happy life. He was a horse of dreams and life-changing for everyone involved with him. He brought us to places I never dreamed I’d see and did wonderful things.

He was the first Irish horse to win the Prix de la Foret since 1982, and the last time an Irish horse won the Haydock Sprint Cup before him was in 1972. He did things that had never been done before and is still the only European-trained horse to win a Group 1 sprint in Australia.”

Although he had not won a race for three years, Gordon Lord Byron continued to run well in defeat in recent seasons. Last year he was placed three times at Group 3 and Group 2 level, and was a close second in Dundalk in November.

“He had a lot of issues which needed constant attention. The vets in Dubai and Australia said he had the worst feet they had ever seen in a racehorse, so retirement would not have suited him,” said Hogan. “He just about managed in the paddock on a sunny day but he hated the cold days. He has gone out doing what he loved.”

Family owned

Owned by the father and daughter team of Morgan and Jessica Cahalan from Ballingarry, Co Tipperary, his racing record was all the more remarkable given his background. Bought as a foal by the Cahalans for €2,000, the son of Byron failed to find a buyer as a yearling and was put in training with Hogan.

Things went from bad to worse when the horse suffered a serious pelvic injury on his racecourse debut. Hogan believes that recovering from that injury increased the horse’s pain threshold and allowed him to produce a bit more in his future races.

Gordon Lord Byron got his head in front for the first time at Dundalk in October 2011, off a mark of 72. Improvement was rapid and within eight months he was competing in listed company. He announced himself as a rising star when winning the valuable City Of York Stakes at York in August 2012. Two weeks later he was an unlucky second to Society Rock in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup.

Connections moved quickly to supplement the horse for the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp, a race he won impressively. Swiss businessman Adolf Schneider paid the supplementary fee and had his colours carried on the day. From there, Gordon Lord Byron found himself on the ‘wanted’ list for all the top sprints around the world. Hong Kong, Dubai and Qatar were among the seven countries in which he raced.

He demolished the field in the 2013 Haydock Sprint Cup, where he was followed home by multiple Group 1 winner Slade Power. Afterwards a plan was hatched to accept an invitation to run in the newly-established Sydney ‘autumn’ festival. This resulted in a third Group 1 success when Gordon Lord Byron won the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill in Sydney in March 2014.

He registered another major success in October 2014 when bursting through a wall of horses to win the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot.

The Curragh also proved a happy hunting ground for him, a track where he won five major races, including his final big race win, the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes in 2017.

Gordon Lord Byron is the subject of a documentary film entitled Against The Odds, made by Nicholas Ryan-Purcell.

Tom Hogan and his stable star / Healy Racing

Justified expectations

Jessica Cahalan said: “One of my favourite days was at York in 2012 when he won the City of York Stakes. It was only a listed race but it was his first blacktype win and it meant he had arrived. He had justified Tom’s expectations and also justified our decision not to sell him. York was the real start of the journey for me. From then on we never looked back. We had some wonderful years, beyond lucky.

“I’d like to give full credit to Tom, his staff, all the jockeys who rode ‘Gordon’, the vets, physios, and anyone else who played a part.”

Jessica’s father Morgan also expressed his gratitude to the trainer and the staff who took care of the horse over the years, including Kate O’Brien, Annie Bowles, Eddie Power and Paddy O’Brien. Andrew Hogan, Michael Carroll and Richie Donoghue travelled the horse, his farrier was Declan Kearns and Emma Chilcott provided physiotherapy.

“I’d also like to thank Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, the racehorse owner and breeder from India, who bought a share in Gordon Lord Byron at an early stage.

“We agreed that the horse would carry his colours on certain days and he paid a lot of the expenses along the way. When ‘Gordon’ was no longer competitive at the very top level, Dr Poonawalla gave back his share, which was very decent of him. He was always a gentleman and called this week to offer his condolences.”

Morgan was present for all of the horse’s wins and struggles to pick out a favourite day. “I can still feel the excitement of his first win in Dundalk. The day he won the Champions Sprint in Ascot was special because we had a lot of family and friends with us. We met [the author] Jilly Cooper and she was also on the phone this week to sympathise.

“When he won the Haydock Sprint Cup he was the best sprinter around, he won by three lengths, pulling up. He was ready for anything that day.”

Apart from his 16 wins, he was placed a further 32 times, including finishing second twice in the Foret and third twice in the Prix Maurice de Gheest. He also won plenty of money during five trips to Hong Kong despite never finishing closer than fourth there.

Morgan believes the story proves that you can buy a Group 1 horse for very small money. By coincidence, Jessica is racing secretary for trainer Denis Hogan who himself has a Group 1 contender in Sceptical which was acquired for only £2,800.

Gordon Lord Byron’s big wins