Harbinger reigns in King George
Harbinger produced a thrilling performance as he broke the course record to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by 11 lengths at Ascot yesterday.
Some races can develop into a tactical game of cat and mouse but Sir Michael Stoute knew that in Harbinger and Workforce he had two horses who would stay every yard of the 12 furlongs and wanted to make the most of those physical resources. To that end he also ran Confront owned, like Workforce, by Prince Khalid Abdullah and the instructions for his jockey, Richard Mullen, were simple enough.
Confront was drawn in stall one and Mullen’s first task was to be out of the stalls quickly and ensure that he was in a position to control the pace of the race and provide the sort of level-timed gallop that would help the two Stoute stars.
Mullen achieved the first part of his game plan and Confront was up to his end of the bargain as he took the field through the first half of the race. Behind him the five other runners sorted themselves out with Cape Blanco and Workforce tracking the lead.
Olivier Peslier - who was handed the ride on Harbinger once Stoute’s stable jockey, Ryan Moore, opted to stay with Workforce - was always travelling easily even as the race was on in earnest once Confront yielded on the home turn.
For Colm O’Donoghue, Cape Blanco was a rare top ride for Aidan O’Brien – with stable jockey Johnny Murtagh suspended – while Moore wanted that judgement vindicated. Both Cape Blanco and Workforce were hard at work to take the lead but neither had a chance as Harbinger took the lead with two furlongs to run.
Peslier only needed one wave of the whip as Harbinger swept away from his field in dazzling style as he came clear from Cape Blanco, and Youmzain who was placed in the race for the third time and Daryakana fourth. Workforce, who went off as the market leader, dropped away in the home straight to finish fifth.
"It was a comfortable race and you can imagine when I saw the big screen in the final furlong and I didn't know where the horses were," Peslier said. "When I gave him one smack with my whip, I turned to see where are the rest of the horses and they were so far behind. You feel that you have won a furlong before the marker.
"Today Harbinger is the king. He is a wonderful horse and I knew that he was very good but today he was flying and he won so well. It's not difficult to ride him because he is very good.
"He travelled where I wanted him to and when I asked him to go, he just kept going and I didn't have to ask him anything - he was just flying."
For Stoute this was a fifth victory in the King George but while there was disappointment with the run of Workforce he also looked almost stunned by the way that Harbinger has destroyed a high-calibre field in what he described as “a superb performance.
"Olivier was just cantering and he just travelled so well. It was looking good from a long way out with Harbinger.
"He was a decent three-year-old. He was very impressive in winning the Gordon Stakes and then he had a blip in the Voltigeur. He bounced back well in the John Porter Stakes at the start of this year - he was very impressive that day. He's just progressed with each race this year.
"At home, we didn't pit Harbinger and Workforce together. I didn't know which of them had the best chance coming into today's race. We knew Harbinger had progressed since the Hardwicke and he just travelled so well today. I thought he had a good chance today but the manner in which he won today is very pleasing," Stoute said, adding with a grin "We might have peaked him too early."
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is an obvious final target, which is a race that Stoute has yet to win which could yet feature Workforce, whom Stoute was not ready to write off after just the fourth start of his career. "Ryan said he just didn't switch off like he normally does and the ground was quick enough, it's pretty fast out there.
"I thought he was racing very keenly going into Swinley Bottom and wasn't relaxed. The ground was fast enough for him today. He'd seven weeks between the Derby and today as we didn't go to Ireland. You have to remember that was only his fourth run today and make no mistake - he will bounce back."
Connections of the placed horses could only look on in amazement at the record-breaking performance of Harbinger. But Aidan O’Brien said of Cape Blanco: “He ran a great race, he ran right to the line. We wanted the two Derby winners to get together and they went stride for stride, but it was an astonishing performance by the winner.
“I won’t mind stepping Cape Blanco back down in trip, but obviously we'll go home and talk about it. But he ran his heart out, he never stopped and he is moving up, he is progressing. He is a typically tough son of Galileo.”
A slightly resigned Mick Channon, trainer of the third-placed Youmzain who was adding a third placing in the King George with his three seconds in the Arc, said: “Well, we ran our race again. I was very impressed with the winner. We will be looking at the Arc, and it is unlikely we will run before. Who knows, fourth time lucky.”
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