GORDON Lord Byron has gained a cult status, not just in his native Ireland but around the world. Yesterday he was making his 84th career start at Al Rayyan in Doha, Qatar and this first visit to the country and track means that he has now been seen on 25 different racecourses during his illustrious and colourful career.

An interesting fact about the 25 racecourses is that he has run at more tracks abroad than he has done in Ireland – 14 on his international forays compared to 11 at home. He has lined up in eight different countries, but by far the most visited racecourse has been the Curragh, and there he has faced the starter on no fewer than 17 occasions.