Gorytus, a handsome bay horse with a small white star, was bred in Virginia by his owner, Alice Mills' Hickory Tree Farm.
In the closing stages he stretched away from the field, despite Carson never resorting to the whip, and won by five lengths from the Guy Harwood-trained Proclaim.
The favourite appeared to be going well until halfway but then began to struggle and quickly dropped out of contention with Carson looking down at the horse's legs as if he had sustained an injury.
[6] Despite returning from the race in a distressed state, the colt showed no sign of injury and made a full recovery within twenty-four hours.
Hern, however, denied this was a factor, pointing out that the horse had been carefully monitored and tested in the build-up to the Dewhurst and had shown no sign of illness.
Richard Baerlein, writing in The Guardian, reported that the horse had been seen defecating with abnormal frequency before the race and suggested that Gorytus had been doped with croton oil, a substance used as a laxative for elephants.
Hern had been warned by Phil Bull at Ayr Racecourse a week after Gorytus' win at Doncaster that his biggest problem would be security.
[8] The tabloid Daily Star presented the theory that the colt had been affected by exposure to an irritant, administered in an aerosol spray as he was led round the pre-race paddock.
Starting the 7/2 second favourite, he ran well for much of the race before finishing fourth behind Caerleon, Hot Touch and John French, beaten a total of two lengths.
Eleven days later, Gorytus started the 6/4 favourite for the Waterford Crystal Mile at Goodwood Racecourse, where he was expected to be favoured by the firmer ground.
[7] At the end of the 1982 season, the independent Timeform organisation gave Gorytus a rating of 132, making him their second-best two-year-old behind Diesis (133).
He was not a very successful sire, with the best of his offspring being the Group Three winners La Monalisa (Prix Penelope), Piani di Caiano (Premio Pisa), Tao (Furstenberg-Rennen) and Gouriev (Horris Hill Stakes).