Byword (horse)
Byword | |
---|---|
Sire | Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord (2011) (2011)Prix Dollar |
Awards | |
Top-rated older male horse in France (2010) |
Byword (foaled 13 February 2006) is a British-bred, French-trained
Background
Byword is a chestnut horse with a broad white
Racing career
2009: three-year-old season
Byword began his racing career in the Prix Bend Or over 1600 metres at
2010: four-year-old season
On his first appearance as a four-year-old, Byword won the listed Prix Jacques Laffitte on very soft ground at Maisons-Laffitte in April, beating Unnefer "impressively"[6] by two and a half lengths with the odds-on favourite Fuisse in third. On 1 May, started the 3.1/1 second favourite in a strongly-contested renewal of the Group Two Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud Racecourse. The other runners included the 2009 winner of the race Gris de Gris, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Elusive Wave and the Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Silver Frost. After tracking the leaders in the early stages, Byword accelerated in the straight and caught Gris de Gris in the final stride to win by a short head.[7] Guyon commented "I tried to cover him up early on but couldn't. He was very courageous and has certainly made a lot of progress".[8] Three weeks later, the colt was moved up to the highest class to contest the Prix d'Ispahan over 1950 metres at Longchamp and finished second by half a length to Goldikova, with the first two finishing ten lengths clear of the other six runners.
On 16 June, Byword was sent to Britain and started 5/2 favourite for the Group One Prince of Wales's Stakes over ten furlongs at
Byword returned to England in August and started 11/4 second favourite for the International Stakes over ten and a half furlongs at York Racecourse. After taking the lead in the straight he was overtaken in the final furlong and finished third, beaten half a length and three quarters of a length by Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over. On his final appearance of the season, Byword started favourite for the Prix Foy at Longchamp in September, but finished fourth behind Duncan, Nakayama Festa and Timos.
2011: five-year-old season
Byword remained in training as a five-year-old and began his third campaign by finishing second to Rajsaman in the Prix du Muguet on 1 May. Three weeks later he finished fifth to Goldikova in the Prix d'Ispahan. On 12 June, Byword was dropped in class to contest the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord over 1600 metres at Chantilly Racecourse. After racing just behind the leaders he accelerated into the lead in the last 200 metres and won, easing down, by three-quarters of a length from Vagabond Shoes.[12]
After a break of over three months, Byword returned to contest the Prix Dollar at Longchamp on 1 October. He started the 9/2 second favourite behind Cirrus des Aigles in a field which also included the Select Stakes winner French Navy, and the Dermot Weld-trained Famous Name, winner of eight Group races in Ireland. After racing in fifth place, Byword briefly struggled to obtain a clear run in the straight before accelerating in the last 200 metres, catching Cirrus des Aigles in the final strides, and winning by a short neck.[13] Byword embarked on an international campaign in the late autumn of 2011 but had no success. On 5 November he finished eighth behind the 50/1 outsider Court Vision in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs. For his final race he sent to Hong Kong and finished sixth to California Memory in the Hong Kong Cup on 11 December.
Assessment
In the 2010 World Thoroughbred Rankings, Byword was given a rating of 124, making him the fourteenth best racehorse in the world and the best French-trained older male.[14] In the following year he was rated 121, making him the 38th best horse in the world.[15]
Stud record
Byword was retired from racing at the end of 2011 and exported to stand as a breeding stallion in South Africa. As of 2015, he is based at the Mauritzfontein Stud.[16]
Pedigree
Sire Peintre Celebre (USA) 1994 |
Nureyev (USA) 1977 |
Northern Dancer | Nearctic |
---|---|---|---|
Natalma | |||
Special | Forli | ||
Thong | |||
Peinture Bleue (USA) 1987 |
Alydar | Raise a Native | |
Sweet Tooth | |||
Petroleuse | Habitat | ||
Plencia | |||
Dam Binche (USA) 1999 |
Woodman (USA) 1983 |
Mr. Prospector | Raise a Native |
Gold Digger | |||
Playmate | Buckpasser | ||
Intriguing | |||
Binary (GB) 1993 |
Rainbow Quest | Blushing Groom | |
I Will Follow | |||
Balabina | Nijinsky | ||
Peace (Family: 1-p)[4] |
- Byword is inbred 4 × 4 to Raise a Native, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.
External links
References
- ^ a b "Byword pedigree". Equineline. 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ^ "Peintre Celebre – Stud Record – Bloodstock Stallion Book". Racing Post.
- ^ "Proviso – Statistics". Equibase.
- ^ a b "ilarity – Family 1-p". Thoroughbred Bloodlines.
- ^ "Prix Pelleas result". Racing Post. 6 July 2009.
- ^ "Prix Jacques Laffitte result". Racing Post. 8 April 2010.
- ^ "Prix du Muguet result". Racing Post. 1 May 2010.
- ^ Nicholas Godfrey & Desmond Stoneham (1 May 2010). "Byword beats Gris De Gris on the nod". Racing Post.[dead link]
- ^ "Prince of Wales's Stakes result". Racing Post. 16 June 2010.
- ^ Mary Schweitzer (16 June 2010). "Byword Has the Last Word in Prince of Wales's". BloodHorse.com.
- ^ Marcus Armytage (16 June 2010). "Royal Ascot 2010: Byword ensures Khalid Abdulla reigns continues". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord result". Racing Post. 12 June 2011.
- ^ "Prix Dollar result". Racing Post. 1 October 2011.
- ^ "2010 World Thoroughbred Rankings". International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ "2011 World Thoroughbred Rankings". International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities. January 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ "Byword – Stud Record". Racing Post.