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Posts Tagged ‘arc de triomphe’

Harbinger is reported to be in a comfortable condition following surgery after suffering a career-threatening leg injury.

The brilliant winner of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, fractured his near-fore cannon bone during a routine spin on the gallops in Newmarket.

John Warren, co-owner of Highclere Stud, said: “He had a comfortable night. The surgery he had was straightforward and all of those things. Hopefully we will know more later this afternoon.”

Harbinger, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, was officially rated the best horse in the world after winning the King George by 11 lengths in a record time.

He was next scheduled to run in the Juddmonte International at York later this month, after which the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was on the agenda.

The son of Dansili has won his last four races, including the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, and has accrued over £770,000 in prize-money.

Michael Bell’s star filly Sariska remains firmly on course to take her chance in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks on August 19.

Last year’s dual Oaks winner had Midday behind when making a winning reappearance on the Knavesmire in May and was far from disgraced when chasing home Fame And Glory in Epsom’s Coronation Cup.

Bell said: “Sariska is in very good form and we are priming her for the Yorkshire Oaks. She seems in great health and if she remains that way, and the ground is suitable, then she will run.”

He added: “I feel that she is a fresher filly going into the race than she was last year as she has had a light campaign because her main targets after York are the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders’ Cup.”

On the same afternoon, Bell is hoping to saddle talented two-year-old Margot Did in the Jaguar Cars Lowther Stakes.

After placed efforts in the Albany Stakes and Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot, her trainer hopes she can secure a first Pattern-race success.

“She is a nice filly and has been very consistent. She really deserves to win one of these races,” Bell added.

“Last time at Ascot she possibly hit the front too soon and just got caught late on. I think that the sharper six furlongs at York should suit better and she should have a big chance.”

Brilliant King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Harbinger is poised to drop back in trip for a crack at the Juddmonte International at York next month.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt is officially rated the best in the world after his 11-length demolition of Cape Blanco at Ascot last weekend.

While the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October remains the big objective for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-owned four-year-old, connections feel a run in the interim will be to his benefit.

Highclere manager Harry Herbert told www.highclereracing.co.uk: “The horse looks really well and Sir Michael reports that he has now put back all of the weight he lost during the race.

“He feels it is too long a gap between now and the Arc for Harbinger not to have another race and with this in mind, we are seriously considering running him in the Juddmonte International on August 17.”

Harbinger has powered his way to the title of top-rated racehorse in the world thanks to his breathtaking performance in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Racing’s official assessors had no problem in raising the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt forward from a mark of 123 to 135 following his 11-length romp in Ascot’s midsummer showpiece on Saturday.

“You’ve got to be very impressed. He looked an improving colt before the race,” Phil Smith, the British Horseracing Authority’s head of handicapping, told At The Races.

“All his performances this year were very progressive and I expected him to a run a big race. I didn’t think he’d win and I certainly didn’t think he’d win like that.

“We looked at the second horse, Cape Blanco, and imagined what if Harbinger had not been in the race. Cape Blanco was 119 going into the race and so we took the view that Cape Blanco had replicated his 119.

“We therefore just had to decide what we called the 11 lengths. We took the view that was worth 16lb, which would be pretty much the norm and brings Harbinger out on 135.

“It’s quite a big jump – we had him on 123 before that – but I’m pretty confident he’s that and could probably be better. It was very impressive.”

He went on: “Instantly we’ve got Harbinger 1lb below Sea The Stars’ end-of-season performance (in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe). He has still got one, two or possibly three more races to come, so we will see how he runs in his subsequent races.

“It may well be we have him as high or higher than Sea The Stars. He’s the best horse in the world today, definitely, but he’s not the best horse ever. He’s got a hell of a lot to prove.

“It was a once 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.”

Harry Herbert is still on cloud nine following Harbinger’s scarcely believable display in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

The Dansili colt was tackling Group One company for the first time in the Betfair-sponsored contest but barely came off the bridle in breaking the course record and scoring by 11 lengths.

Harbinger’s Derby-winning stablemate Workforce and Irish Derby hero Cape Blanco were among those left trailing in his wake and Herbert, racing manager to owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, admits the display is still hard to take in.

“I don’t think it’s really sunk in for any of us and it was one of those rare racecourse performances where it is difficult to believe it actually happened,” he said.

“I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime performance and it’s hard to understand how horses can improve so rapidly, but he obviously has done and is doing so.

“I find it extraordinary that he’s broken the track record when he has really been given an easy time during the entire race. Olivier (Peslier) didn’t have to get after him once and watching the replay again I was as amazed and gobsmacked as I was at the time.

“There was that amazing shot where he came by Workforce and Cape Blanco on the bridle and it is just all so exciting.”

The four-year-old is now as short as even-money favourite to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October and Herbert has his eyes very much fixed on the French showpiece.

He continued: “It was a great performance and a great training performance and we will almost certainly look towards the Arc now. I’ll talk to Sir Michael (Stoute) and see whether he wants to go straight there or give him a prep race.

“I certainly couldn’t rule out the Breeders’ Cup and there are other races like the Japan Cup. Then the decision will have to be made about what we do next year. All of the owners will have to decide whether we keep him and race again.”

Behkabad is likely to be campaigned with a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in mind following his triumph in the Grand Prix de Paris.

Having finished fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club on his penultimate start, Jean-Claude Rouget’s colt showed further progress to land Wednesday’s Group One in rain-softened ground.

Georges Rimaud, racing manager for owner the Aga Khan, said: “It was a good performance and very enjoyable to watch. The horse is fine and the normal route for a horse like him now would be to go for an Arc trial, possibly the Prix Niel, and then the Arc itself.”

He added: “But there is still a long way to go so we will see how it goes along the way. I don’t think the ground matters to him too much. I don’t think he would like it if the ground was very heavy, but that is the case with most horses.”

William Buick has needed to wait a while, but in this Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse he will finally get his second chance to ride Dar Re Mi.

John Gosden’s mare, owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has already mixed it with the very best in middle-distance company and is second favourite behind Twice Over for the Sandown Group One.

Fifth to Sea The Stars in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and third to Conduit in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Dar Re Mi returned this year with victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Rising star Buick had not long been appointed stable jockey to the powerful Gosden operation and netting the near-£2million contest was a dream start for the partnership in late March.

Dar Re Mi has missed a couple of options and steps back onto the course against the likes of Prince of Wales’s Stakes runner-up Twice Over and Zacinto, who steps up from a mile for the first time.

Buick said: “She’s a stable star, an exceptional filly. What she did in Dubai was top class and it was a great experience for me.

“She is back down to a mile and a quarter for the first time in a while but I think she has a good chance.”

Kieren Fallon has been booked by Mark Johnston to ride Jukebox Jury, who was well behind Dar Re Mi in Dubai and has struggled in other domestic Group One events despite thriving abroad.

Fallon has won the Eclipse twice before, aboard Medicean in 2001 and Oratorio in 2005.

“Jukebox Jury may have finished one place ahead of Twice Over in last year’s Coral-Eclipse, but the betting suggests that Kieren Fallon will need to be at his very best to confirm that running on Saturday,” said Coral’s David Stevens.