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Gytrash is a mythical feared black dog known in Northern England, said to haunt lonely roads awaiting travellers. The word also describes "any strange looking individual." Potential Everest contender Gytrash (the horse), is a feared for a completely different reason on the racetrack these days. The powerful horse trained won his 68-year old South Australian trainer Gordon Richards. The superbly bred Lope de Vega gelding gave the trainer his first Group One success after Gytrash destroyed reputations and most punters hope with a stunning Gr.1 Lightning Stakes victory defeating the fastest sprinter in the world - Nature Strip.
The trainer is now courting requests from The Everest slot holders to represent their slot. One slot holder has already shown interest and is “putting together a package.” Gytrash is currently backed at work after a short break and will resume racing in September towards his ‘Everest’ goal.
After a long night of celebration, Gordon and Jacqui Richards decided to kill some time before their flight home, by visiting the Inglis Premier Sale. They had no intention of buying when they happened to see a chestnut Lope De Vega colt being paraded for inspection. He took their breath away. "He had this unusual blaze beginning at the forehead and finishing halfway down his face," recalled Gordon. "His confirmation was impossible to fault, and he was a lovely walker."
Gordon was pleased as punch when colt's official X/Rays cleared. The trainer made hurried arrangements for a friend to represent him, with strict instructions not to exceed A$40,000 in a few days, when the yearling was due in the ring.
Eventually, Gordon's friend secured the chestnut for A$41,000. “I liked his sire and his broodmare sire – Fastnet Rock. And he was good value for money.”
Conceived during Lope De Vega’s fourth and final shuttle season in Australia, Gytrash (Correctly pronounced ‘Gee Trah’) and famed sprinter Santa Ana Lane share Fastnet Rock as a broodmare sire as well as a sire.
It took Richards some time to convince clients old and new, and Gytrash ended up being syndicated to 40 owners.
Gelded as an early 2YO, Gytrash returned after a minor injury to the star-studded Group One Lightning Stakes under Mark Zahra.
With the majority of watchers focused Nature Strip and the dual Everest winner Redzel, few were only aware of the Chestnut horse when Gytrash suddenly loomed up to Redzel at the 200m with Nature Strip struggling and Loving Gaby starting to hit top gear. “It was a monstrous thrill when he beat those horses so decisively to give the stable our first ever Group 1”, said Gordon.
Thoroughbreds have been in Gordon's life since childhood days in Port Lincoln. "My father Henry was a plumber but hobby trained for years, and there was always a horse or two at our place," he said. "I rode regular trackwork for several years and enjoyed the experience of getting them ready for races.”
Gordon’s stables are just across the road from Morphettville racecourse. He’s never been a big team trainer, preferring to keep the numbers around the 20 marks. “It just doesn’t make sense to lose touch with each individual horse for the sake of having large numbers,” said the trainer. “In fact right at the moment, I’ve got two spare boxes”.
Gordon is already planning his champion's world tour, "This year we had an invite to Royal Ascot. But things didn't work out, and we turned them down. And with the COVID19 situation, eventually, it turned out we couldn't have gone anyways."
“Next year the owners want to head to Dubai for the Dubai World Cup Carnival and The Dubai World Cup race day instead of going up to England.”
If Gytrash were to head to Dubai, he would be part of Dubai's Silver Jubilee celebrations for the Dubai World Cup.
According to Gordon, the son of Lope De Vega is easy to train, “He gets a good dizzy on race days and is very switched on. He knows when it’s time to ‘go’ and is very versatile.”
Gordon’s self-professed stable stars include Garner, Bold Star, and rising 2YO Crown Mint who is expected back for the Spring Carnival.
He’s unconvinced about training a Melbourne Cup winner as one of his ambitions, “Racing is a funny game. It’s very hard to get top-quality Australian bred stayers. Most of them are brought down from Europe for the Melbourne Cup. But then you never know, if you are lucky….”
Finally, when asked what would happen if Gytrash won The Everest, he conceded, "quite a few parties would be in order, I suspect. We are all from Adelaide, and most of us would be in Sydney for The Everest, if Gytrash wins, we would have A$15 million reasons for a good party.”