Diamond Geezer
Gone But Not Forgotten
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- May 2, 2003
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Twenty-year-old Lord Gyllene - the winner of the Grand National 11 years ago - will be at the racecourse parading for the crowds before the £25,000 totesport.com Lord Gyllene Handicap Chase.Bred in New Zealand, Gyllene was purchased by Uttoxeter Racecourse's late chairman Sir Stanley Clarke, a businessman based in Barton.
He went on to win the Grand National at Aintree in April 1997, trained by Steve Brookshaw and ridden by Tony Dobbin.
He was a lightly raced horse. He ran just 13 times, but to great effect.
Lord Gyllene didn't win any of his first six races - all during 1996 - though he was runner-up on no fewer than four occasions.
But in December 1996, he raced at Uttoxeter four days before Christmas, and a sequence of victories began that would lead all the way to Grand National glory.
Three wins in the space of two months in Staffordshire included the Singer and Friedlander National Trial.
He was then sent off as favourite for the Midlands Grand National a month later, but he had to shoulder top weight.
Finishing as runner-up was a superb performance nevertheless, and it put him just right for a tilt at the Grand National.
Lord Gyllene's victory in Liverpool was historic, with his winning margin of 25 lengths the most impressive for 20 years.
Injury meant that the horse would run just twice more, and he was retired by Sir Stanley in early 2001, two years after his final race.
David MacDonald, general manager of Uttoxeter Racecourse, said: "We are thrilled to welcome the former Grand National winner Lord Gyllene back to Uttoxeter where he is so popular."
He went on to win the Grand National at Aintree in April 1997, trained by Steve Brookshaw and ridden by Tony Dobbin.
He was a lightly raced horse. He ran just 13 times, but to great effect.
Lord Gyllene didn't win any of his first six races - all during 1996 - though he was runner-up on no fewer than four occasions.
But in December 1996, he raced at Uttoxeter four days before Christmas, and a sequence of victories began that would lead all the way to Grand National glory.
Three wins in the space of two months in Staffordshire included the Singer and Friedlander National Trial.
He was then sent off as favourite for the Midlands Grand National a month later, but he had to shoulder top weight.
Finishing as runner-up was a superb performance nevertheless, and it put him just right for a tilt at the Grand National.
Lord Gyllene's victory in Liverpool was historic, with his winning margin of 25 lengths the most impressive for 20 years.
Injury meant that the horse would run just twice more, and he was retired by Sir Stanley in early 2001, two years after his final race.
David MacDonald, general manager of Uttoxeter Racecourse, said: "We are thrilled to welcome the former Grand National winner Lord Gyllene back to Uttoxeter where he is so popular."
