Runner-up in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup 12 months ago, Dr. Cyrus
Poonawalla and Morgan Cahalan’s Gordon Lord Byron earned the reward for his
consistency by gaining a second top-level success Saturday to add to the Prix de
la Foret he garnered last October. Sent off the 7-2 second choice on the easy
ground he relishes, the bay stayed on the far side, led approaching the
quarter-pole and drew away under Johnny Murtagh to best compatriot Slade Power
by three lengths.
“When I got to the three (-furlong) marker, I was taking him back and he was
just electric and won easy,” his rider commented. “He’s very tough, but today he
was different — he looked different and was in a different zone.”
Lethal Force, the 5-2 favorite in search of a third Group 1 contest, proved a
disappointment on the rain-softened ground and, when unable to boss this affair,
faded into ninth.
One of Ireland’s most progressive performers last term, Gordon Lord Byron
returned from a strong fourth in the Hong Kong Mile in December and was kept
busy in preparation for the Dubai Golden Shaheen on Meydan’s Tapeta. Only
seventh in that March 30 contest, he emerged with much credit when third racing
under a penalty and away from the main action in the May 15 Duke of York and
followed with a respectable fourth in the June 22 Diamond Jubilee at Royal
Ascot.
Forced to concede 12 pounds to the potentially high-class three-year-old
Darwin in The Minstrel at the Curragh July 20, that proved too much of an ask
for him when second, but he was again at his most admirable when staying on
strongly to be third behind Moonlight Cloud and Lethal Force in the August 4
Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.
Workmanlike when odds-on for the Desmond over a mile at Leopardstown August
15, he was the opposite here as he turned a competitive affair into a
procession. Breaking tardily, he was soon traveling strongly behind the far-side
pacesetter Heeraat, and it was clear by halfway that he had the measure of the
restrained Lethal Force. Allowed to put his seal on the race with just over a
quarter-mile to race, he was unchallenged up the rail as Slade Power won the war
of attrition down the center.
“I knew that he had improved at this time of year every year,” conditioner
Tom Hogan commented. “I felt today was his day and hopefully he will keep on
improving this year. I think we’ll go for the Prix de la Foret (Group 1 at
Longchamp October 6) and then we might look at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
(Group 1 at Ascot October 19) — we might try a Group 1 over a mile for a
change.”
Trainer Clive Cox’s worst fears that Lethal Force would not act on the ground
proved well-founded and he was looking to dismiss the below-par performance.
“It was clearly not his true running,” he told PA Sport. “The track walked a
lot better than it rode. I will take all the blame. It was my fault, not the
horse’s. We shouldn’t have run him really, but at the same time we thought it
was just on the easy side of good. Fair play to the winner, he was very
impressive. Our horse will be fine, we just have to put a line through it. It
was my fault.”
Also at Haydock, Top Notch Tonto sprang a 22-1 surprise in the Group 3
Superior Mile. Having won a competitive mile handicap at Newmarket on his first
start since being switched from Ian McInnes to Brian Ellison July 27, Top Notch
Tonto ran second in a similar event over the same track and trip August 10 and
confirmed there he was still on the upgrade without suggesting that he was up to
this class.
Niggled from the gate to lie in mid-division throughout the early stages, the
flashy chestnut was asked to close passing halfway and took the initiative full
of run a furlong later en route to an authoritative score. Odds-on favorite
Montiridge was a non-threatening fifth.
Jockey Dale Swift was enjoying his first success in this category.
“He has a massive heart and he’s as genuine as they come,” Swift said. “He
traveled so well that I took a pull turning in and then hit the front sooner
than I wanted. When I asked him, he kept going to the line. He never felt like
stopping and I think that he’s still improving.”
Ellison added, “It’s a bit of a shock, but I thought that maybe he had a
chance on softer ground. I told the owner that he was definitely listed class.
He wants it softer, so we might go to France for the ground.”
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