IN 1971, the Irish National Stud at Tully was home to five stallions. The new boy on the block was Lord Gayle.

A son of Sir Gaylord, Lord Gayle had been purchased at the end of the previous year for £125,000, and he was offered to breeders at an initial fee of £850. Bred at Newstead Farm in Virginia, he was twice successful as a three-year-old at Saratoga before being sent to be trained by Fred Armstrong.