Dundalk then Dubai for Gordon Lord Byron Tom Hogan is hoping Gordon Lord Byron will have a useful pipe-opener at Dundalk on Friday ahead of a crack at the Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup card at the end of the month. The Co Tipperary trainer is keen to get a race into his Prix de la Foret winner ahead of the six-furlong Group One at Meydan. Hogan gave credit to the Irish authorities for putting on the www.dundalkstadium.com Race, for which there are seven entries. "He's wintered well and hopefully he's headed for Dubai and the Golden Shaheen on March 30th," said Hogan. "He's more relaxed than he was last year. "He's a bit lazy and it would be hard to go to Dubai without a run and he's possibly about 90% fit, but he needs to wake up. "The timing is good and there are a couple of horses in there like Reply and Starspangledbanner. "My lad will be giving 6lb to Starspangledbanner, but we want to take him to the racecourse and this is an ideal opportunity. "It's very good of Dundalk and HRI (Horse Racing Ireland) to put on a race to suit us. "Otherwise I would have had to go to Wolverhampton with the horse as there's a six-furlong Listed race there." The Aidan O'Brien-trained Starspangledbanner was champion sprinter in 2010, but has yet to hit those glory days since returning to the track after a failed stud career. O'Brien also has Reply, who was third in the Irish 2000 Guineas last season but has not won since his two-year-old days. Other possibles are An Saighdiur, Battleroftheboyne, Burn The Boats and Clancy Avenue.
