Harbinger
Only last month it seemed the Group One King George Stakes winner Harbinger was destined for great things but the fairytale turned to nightmare yesterday.
Conditionally crowned as the best horse in the world after that devastating win just 17 days ago, the Sir Michael Stout-trained prodigy was retired on Monday.
Confirmation as to what lies ahead for Harbinger will not be announced until the champion has overcome his career-ending leg injury sustained at the Newmarket gallops over the weekend.
It was a shock for racing fans and enthusiasts around the world who will never see the potential the colt would have achieved reached, but after fracturing his near-fore cannon bone there was to be no happy ending.
The Dansili five-year-old immediately underwent surgery but it was decided among the colt’s 12 owners there was too high a risk to return the winner to the track.
In Harbinger’s last jump he defeated his field by a record-breaking 11 lengths which led Timeform – the company which evaluate a horse’s performance without any bias – to rate him at 140.
Only seven horses around the world have ever been rated higher.
However the rating was dependant on the rest of the colt’s racing season in order to see if Harbinger was a one hit wonder, or a true legend.
The decision regarding where Harbinger will rank alongside the list of all-time greats such as Sea The Stars and the highest ranked Sea Bird II will continue, as Timeform decide whether or not one race is enough to base a decision on.
