2009: three-year-old season Byword began his racing career in the Prix Bend Or over 1600 metres at
Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse on 4 June. Ridden by
Stéphane Pasquier he won by three-quarters of a
length from Skins Game and seven others. A month later he was stepped up in class and won the Listed Prix Pelleas over 2000 metres at Compiègne, with
Cirrus des Aigles finishing third. The colt was stepped up again for the
Group Two Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at
Deauville Racecourse in August. He started the
6/4 favourite but finished fourth behind the British-trained Sri Putra.
Maxime Guyon then took over from Pasguier and rode the horse in all his subsequent races. In September he started odds-on favourite (coupled with his owner's other runner World Heritage) for the Prix du Prince d'Orange at
Longchamp Racecourse and finished fourth to Cirrus des Aigles.
2010: four-year-old season On his first appearance as a four-year-old, Byword won the listed Prix Jacques Laffitte on
very soft ground at Maisons-Laffitte in April, beating Unnefer "impressively" by two and a half lengths with the odds-on favourite
Fuisse in third. On 1 May, started the 3.1/1 second favourite in a strongly-contested renewal of the Group Two Prix du Muguet at
Saint-Cloud Racecourse. The other runners included the 2009 winner of the race Gris de Gris, the
Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner
Elusive Wave and the
Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner
Silver Frost. After tracking the leaders in the early stages, Byword accelerated in the straight and caught Gris de Gris in the final stride to win by a short head. Guyon commented "I tried to cover him up early on but couldn't. He was very courageous and has certainly made a lot of progress". Three weeks later, the colt was moved up to the highest class to contest the
Prix d'Ispahan over 1950 metres at Longchamp and finished second by half a length to
Goldikova, with the first two finishing ten lengths clear of the other six runners. On 16 June, Byword was sent to Britain and started 5/2 favourite for the Group One Prince of Wales's Stakes over ten furlongs at
Royal Ascot. His opponents included
Twice Over,
Presvis,
Debussy,
Shalanaya (
Prix de l'Opéra),
Cavalryman (
Grand Prix de Paris),
Glass Harmonium (
Gordon Richards Stakes) and Mawatheeq (
Cumberland Lodge Stakes). Guyon positioned the colt just behind the leaders before moving up on the outside in the straight to overtake the outsider Tazeez a furlong from the finish. He held off a late challenge from Twice Over to win by half a length with Tazeez three quarters of a length away in third. Fabre commented "I knew the horse had the ability. He's a very good horse. He matured from three to four and last year he got a virus and he's just coming to himself". Fabre also praised the 21-year-old Guyon, who was winning his first race in Britain, saying "I am very pleased for him. Not only is he a good jockey, he is a nice chap. There are always worries before a race and his inexperience was one, but he is very laid back". Byword returned to England in August and started 11/4 second favourite for the
International Stakes over ten and a half furlongs at
York Racecourse. After taking the lead in the straight he was overtaken in the final furlong and finished third, beaten half a length and three quarters of a length by
Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over. On his final appearance of the season, Byword started favourite for the
Prix Foy at Longchamp in September, but finished fourth behind
Duncan,
Nakayama Festa and Timos.
2011: five-year-old season Byword remained in training as a five-year-old and began his third campaign by finishing second to Rajsaman in the Prix du Muguet on 1 May. Three weeks later he finished fifth to Goldikova in the Prix d'Ispahan. On 12 June, Byword was dropped in class to contest the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord over 1600 metres at
Chantilly Racecourse. After racing just behind the leaders he accelerated into the lead in the last 200 metres and won, easing down, by three-quarters of a length from Vagabond Shoes. After a break of over three months, Byword returned to contest the Prix Dollar at Longchamp on 1 October. He started the 9/2 second favourite behind Cirrus des Aigles in a field which also included the
Select Stakes winner French Navy, and the
Dermot Weld-trained Famous Name, winner of eight Group races in Ireland. After racing in fifth place, Byword briefly struggled to obtain a clear run in the straight before accelerating in the last 200 metres, catching Cirrus des Aigles in the final strides, and winning by a short neck. Byword embarked on an international campaign in the late autumn of 2011 but had no success. On 5 November he finished eighth behind the 50/1 outsider
Court Vision in the
Breeders' Cup Mile at
Churchill Downs. For his final race he sent to Hong Kong and finished sixth to
California Memory in the
Hong Kong Cup on 11 December. ==Assessment==