Hard Ridden was a “long and lean”[1] bay horse bred in Ireland by Sir Oliver Lambart.
Hard Ridden, however, as the son of a sprinter, was thought unlikely to be effective over one and a half miles and started at 18/1 in a field of twenty in front of a crowd estimated at 200,000 including the Queen.
In the closing stages Hard Ridden extended his advantage to win by five lengths from Paddy's Point and Nagami, becoming the first Irish-trained winner of the race since Orby in 1907.
"[5] Hard Ridden did not appear again on the racecourse until late July, when he ran in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
[1] In their book A Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated "Hard Ridden" as an “inferior” Derby winner.