Harbinger on fast track in Hardwicke Stakes
Harbinger staked a claim for the major middle-distance prizes this season with an authoritative victory in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes.
Barshiba made sure that it was an honest pace and still led into the home straight but Ryan Moore was simply waiting for the right moment to set Harbinger alight. He took up the running with two furlongs to run three lengths clear of Duncan in a very fast time.
Sir Michael Stoute had already said the Workforce, the seven-length winner of the Derby, will run next in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot next month and Harbinger could yet make it to the line-up as well.
As ever Stoute was not making any hasty decisions. “He was very professional today in the way he travelled so well. We were very thrilled with him at Newbury and it was a good performance in the Ormonde at Chester - it was more workmanlike but Chester is a tight track and he is a big, galloping horse,” Stoute said.
“We need to sit down and have a good old chat about what the best thing is to do now. The King George is a long way off but we’ll have to go for a Group One now with him,”
It was a third win of the week for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and the partnership’s managing director Harry Herbert was a little bolder when he said: “Sir Michael has the Derby winner [Workforce] in the King George and if he wants to run Harbinger in the same race, we certainly wouldn’t put him off.
“Sir Michael wouldn’t commit to the King George, he just gave us one of his silences when it was mentioned. But it’s a race we would seriously consider although I’m sure Sir Michael would steer us elsewhere if he thought Workforce was unbeatable.
“He is such an exciting horse. Looking at him in the parade ring today, you could see how well he was progressing and Ryan will tell you how impressive he was. It was all looking very good after he won the Gordon Stakes last season and Sir Michael kept saying that he was next year’s horse and that everybody should be patient. I think he still expected him to win the Great Voltiguer but something very odd happened that day - whether he had a palate scenario when it possibly flipped and stopped his airway.
“That seemed the most likely situation so he had a very minor operation done over the winter and he has come out this season and has been a different horse. Physically he is different and the chat has been good for some time but to have a horse like this is very, very special and we know how lucky we are.
“It has been an incredible week to have three winners. It’s incredible and the lovely thing is that is different syndicates each time. There are 12 people involved with this horse and 20 with some of the others, so a lot of people are getting a crack at the fun. That’s what you aspire to do when you set up a syndicate.”
Moore won the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes on Bergo to finish as the leading rider at Royal Ascot this year. It was Moore’s fourth success of the week, equalling the total of Johnny Murtagh, but he took the title having partnered five seconds, compared to four for Murtagh. The winner was a first Royal Ascot success for Moore’s trainer father Gary and the jockey admitted that meant as much to him as the title.
“Riding a winner for the old man means a lot to me, especially at Ascot because it’s important to him,” said Moore. “I have to admit that for me personally that means more than getting the top jockey accolade. But this is the biggest week of our year in racing, it’s very competitive and winning the top races is what it’s all about.
“Bergo is a very honest horse and he battled hard despite not enjoying the conditions. I wasn’t so happy on him going down the hill but he picked up on the rising ground.”
Richard Hannon was earlier presented with the trophy for leading trainer at Royal Ascot this year.
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