Harbinger suffers serious injury on gallops
Harbinger, rated the best racehorse in the world, could be retired after sustaining a career-threatening injury on the gallops at Newmarket yesterday.
The colt, who rocketed to the top of the pile after he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last month, has sustained a fractured near-fore cannon bone when completing a routine piece of morning work.
He had just completed a gallop on the Limekilns and was being walked back to the yard of his trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, when his work rider noticed that the horse was lame.
He has been operated on for a suspected fracture to a cannon bone. Harbinger was being trained for a possible run in the Group One Juddmonte International Stakes at York later this month as a prelude to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.
Harbinger races for a syndicate in the colours of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and their managing director, Harry Herbert, said: “This is a bitter blow for all 12 of Harbinger’s owners and indeed all who are closely concerned with the horse, as well as his many fans for whom he has become an icon following his amazing King George victory.
“A decision as to his future will be taken imminently.”
The injury to Harbinger mirrors that of two other top Flat horses whose careers were cut short. Mill Reef, the winner of the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George and Arc in 1971, was being prepared for a second run in the Arc when he shattered a foreleg on the gallops in 1972 and 18 years later Dubai Millennium, rated by Sheikh Mohammed as the best horse he owned, was also retired when he too sustained a fractured leg on the gallops.
If this indeed the end of Harbinger’s racing career it leaves him on the pantheon accessible to only the very few.
The four-year-old, who is unbeaten in four starts this season, sealed his place at the top of the world ratings after his breath-taking victory at the 60th running of the King George, which he won by the unheard of margin of 11 lengths – beating the seven lengths that Generous won by in 1991. At the time Sir Michael Stoute was asked to place the victory in context and even he was struggling to comprehend the scale of the colt’s achievement.
The silence as he gathered his thoughts was an eloquent statement in itself and even when he tried to deflect comparisons with humour it only underlined the potential magnitude of Harbinger’s newly acquired status. “Well I didn’t see Ribot,” Stoute said in reference to the great Italian horse who won in 1956 and given that Ribot took the King George as part of a 16-race unbeaten career which included successive victories in the Prix de l’Arc Triomphe either side of his King George victory it was praise indeed.
But it was matched by those with a dispassionate view. Assessing the merits of Harbinger requires a degree of separation simply because the way that he separated himself from a field that included four individual Group One winners was beyond anything that he had achieved in eight previous starts.
First to weigh in with their opinions was Timeform who initially rated Harbinger on a mark of 142, but then dropped him to 140 on further consideration. To put that into historical perspective over the post-war era Sea Bird, the Derby and Arc winner of 1965, still stands alone on 145. He is 2lbs ahead of Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel who are regarded as the best milers of the era.
Then comes Ribot, top sprinter Abernant and flying two-year-old Windy City on 142, with Mill Reef on 141.
Harbinger now places alongside Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Sea The Stars, Shergar and Vaguely Noble on 1lb lower.
The official handicapper’s assessments only go back as far as the start of the international classifications in 1977 and the current handicappers do not like to rely on those early ratings too heavily for an historical prism through which to view what we see now. However, Phil Smith, the BHA’s head of handicapping, concurred with the view that we had seen something special.
“You’ve got to be very, very impressed,” he said at the time. “He looked an improving colt before the race, all his performances this year were very progressive and I expected him to run a big race. I have to say I didn’t think he’d win – and I certainly didn’t think he’d win like that.”
Having rated Harbinger on 135, to put him well clear of any horse who has run on the planet in 2010, Smith explained the reasoning behind it. “We looked at the second horse, Cape Blanco, and imagined ‘what if Harbinger had not been in the race?’ We had Cape Blanco on 119 going into the race and we took the view that Cape Blanco had replicated his 119. It meant that all the other horses had run below form – so you could argue that we were being a bit mean on Cape Blanco – but he was still beaten a h**l of a long way.
“It’s quite a big jump, we had him on 123 before that, but I’d be pretty confident that he’s that and he may well be better. We’ve got Harbinger 1lb below Sea The Stars’ end-of-season performance but Harbinger’s still got one, two or three more races to come. So we’ll see how the King George works out, we’ll see how Harbinger works in his subsequent races and it may well be that we have him as high, or higher than Sea The Stars.”
Putting Harbinger in the context of the international classifications Smith pointed out: “Looking back you’ve got Montjeu 135, Peintre Celebre and Generous 137 and El Gran Senor 138. And if you go back you’ve got Alleged and Shergar on 140 and Dancing Brave on 141.”
The only doubt is whether the King George, which Smith described as a “wow race”, is a one-off performance or the next step on Harbinger’s progress to racing’s pantheon. Seven years ago Hawk Wing won the Lockinge Stakes by 11 lengths, beating a quality field, but failed dismally in his sole subsequent run.
"He's got a h**l of a lot to prove,” Smith said of Harbinger. “It was a one performance. No-one could get any of his previous performances into the 130s, even though he looked to be climbing the ladder. We would want him to do it again before we can get him into the late 130s or early 140s. He's got to do something similar in the future.
"A lot happens to the subsequent form of Cape Blanco and Youmzain. We’ll see how they perform. Horses get ratings not just on the fact they win by long distances, but also on the subsequent form of the horses they beat. We’ve got plenty to look forward to before the end of the year.”
Sadly that may not now be the case.
The colt, who rocketed to the top of the pile after he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last month, has sustained a suspected broken cannon bone when completing a routine piece of morning work at Newmarket.
He had just completed a gallop on the Limekilns and was being walked back to the yard of his trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, when his work rider noticed that the horse was lame.
It is reported that he has been operated on for a suspected fracture to a cannon bone. Harbinger was being trained for a possible run in the Group One Juddmonte International Stakes at York later this month as a prelude to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.
Harbinger races for a syndicate in the colours of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and their managing director, Harry Herbert, said: Harry Herbert “This is a bitter blow for all 12 of Harbinger’s owners and indeed all who are closely concerned with the horse, as well as his many fans for whom he has become an icon following his amazing King George victory.
“A decision as to his future will be taken imminently.”
The injury to Harbinger mirrors that of two other top Flat horses whose careers were cut short. Mill Reef, the winner of the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George and Arc in 1971, was being prepared for a second run in the Arc when he shattered a foreleg on the gallops in 1972 and 18 years later Dubai Millennium, rated by Sheikh Mohammed as the best horse he owned, was also retired when he too sustained a fractured leg on the gallops.
If this indeed the end of Harbinger’s racing career it leaves him on the pantheon accessible to only the very few. The four-year-old, who is unbeaten in four starts this season, sealed his place at the top of the world ratings after his breath-taking victory the 60th running of the King George, which he won by the unheard of margin of 11 lengths – beating the seven lengths that Generous won by in 1991.
At the time Sir Michael Stoute was asked to place the victory in context and even he was struggling to comprehend the scale of the colt’s achievement.
The silence as he gathered his thoughts was an eloquent statement in itself and even when he tried to deflect comparisons with humour it only underlined the potential magnitude of Harbinger’s newly acquired status. “Well I didn’t see Ribot,” Stoute said in reference to the great Italian horse who won in 1956 and given that Ribot took the King George as part of a 16-race unbeaten career which included successive victories in the Prix de l’Arc Triomphe either side of his King George victory it was praise indeed.
But it was matched by those with a dispassionate view. Assessing the merits of Harbinger requires a degree of separation simply because the way that he separated himself from a field that included four individual Group One winners was beyond anything that he had achieved in eight previous starts.
First to weigh in with their opinions was Timeform who initially rated Harbinger on a mark of 142, but then dropped him to 140 on further consideration. To put that into historical perspective over the post-war era Sea Bird, the Derby and Arc winner of 1965, still stands alone on 145. He is 2lbs ahead of Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel who are regarded as the best milers of the era.
Then comes Ribot, top sprinter Abernant and flying two-year-old Windy City on 142, with Mill Reef on 141.
Harbinger now places alongside Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Sea The Stars, Shergar and Vaguely Noble on 1lb lower.
The official handicapper’s assessments only go back as far as the start of the international classifications in 1977 and the current handicappers do not like to rely on those early ratings too heavily for an historical prism through which to view what we see now. However, Phil Smith, the BHA’s head of handicapping, concurred with the view that we had seen something special.
“You’ve got to be very, very impressed,” he said at the time. “He looked an improving colt before the race, all his performances this year were very progressive and I expected him to run a big race. I have to say I didn’t think he’d win – and I certainly didn’t think he’d win like that.”
Having rated Harbinger on 135, to put him well clear of any horse who has run on the planet in 2010, Smith explained the reasoning behind it. “We looked at the second horse, Cape Blanco, and imagined ‘what if harbinger had not been in the race?’ We had Cape Blanco on 119 going into the race and we took the view that Cape Blanco had replicated his 119. It meant that all the other horses had run below form – so you could argue that we were being a bit mean on Cape Blanco – but he was still beaten a h**l of a long way.
“It’s quite a big jump, we had him on 123 before that, but I’d be pretty confident that he’s that and he may well be better. We’ve got Harbinger 1lb below Sea The Stars’ end-of-season performance but Harbinger’s still got one, two or three more races to come. So we’ll see how the King George works out, we’ll see how Harbinger works in his subsequent races and it may well be that we have him as high, or higher than Sea The Stars.”
Putting Harbinger in the context of the international classifications Smith pointed out: “Looking back you’ve got Montjeu 135, Peintre Celebre and Generous 137 and El Gran Senor 138. And if you go back you’ve got Alleged and Shergar on 140 and Dancing Brave on 141.”
The only doubt is whether the King George, which Smith described as a “wow race”, is a one-off performance or the next step on Harbinger’s progress to racing’s pantheon. Seven years ago Hawk Wing won the Lockinge Stakes by 11 lengths, beating a quality field, but failed dismally in his sole subsequent run.
"He's got a h**l of a lot to prove,” Smith said of Harbinger. “It was a one performance. No-one could get any of his previous performances into the 130s, even though he looked to be climbing the ladder. We would want him to do it again before we can get him into the late 130s or early 140s. He's got to do something similar in the future.
"A lot happens to the subsequent form of Cape Blanco and Youmzain. We’ll see how they perform. Horses get ratings not just on the fact they win by long distances, but also on the subsequent form of the horses they beat. We’ve got plenty to look forward to before the end of the year.”
Sadly that may not now be the case.
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