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Harbinger has been hailed as “one of the all-time greats” after injury forced connections to announce the colt’s retirement from racing.

The four-year-old colt became the highest-rated Flat horse in the world following his breathtaking 11-length triumph in last month’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

But less than a fortnight before his next intended target, the Juddmonte International at York on August 17, Harbinger fractured his near-fore cannon bone on the gallops in Newmarket on Saturday.

The son of Dansili underwent surgery on Saturday evening, but connections felt it was too much of a risk to return the Sir Michael Stoute inmate to the racecourse.

A decision on a potential stud career has yet to be confirmed.

Harry Herbert, racing manager for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, said in a statement issued on behalf of the colt’s owners, the Admiral Rous Syndicate: “It is with regret that it has been decided to retire Harbinger from racing.

“Thanks to the professionalism of the veterinary surgeons, Bruce Bladon of O’Gorman Slater & Main, Andrew Bathe of Rossdale & Partners and Antony Clements of Baker & McVeigh, the operation undertaken at Rossdales Hospital has been successful.

“We are pleased to report that the horse is recovering well. The decision to retire Harbinger is based on the welfare of the horse which is paramount. The owners, for whom this is very sad, are naturally sorry that their great horse has had his career cut short.

“In winning the Hardwicke Stakes so impressively and then producing one of the greatest performances of all time to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by 11 lengths in record time, Harbinger has confirmed himself as one of the all-time greats.”

Derby hero Workforce will have to show connections he is back in peak condition before they allow him to return to the racecourse.

The King’s Best colt looked destined for greatness following his seven-length Epsom triumph but he was well beaten in fifth as stablemate Harbinger ran away with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Nothing significant has come to light following that lifeless display and connections will give him all the time he needs to find his feet once again.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told At The Races: “There is no question he was a very impressive winner of the Derby. He won by seven lengths and you can never take that away from him. It was an outstanding performance which ever way you look at it.

“We’re pretty sure he didn’t give his true running at Ascot. He has been checked out thoroughly with a fine tooth comb and nothing significant has been revealed, so we are just going to have to let him tell us when he’s ready to go back to the races.

“We’re not going to put a programme on him, and realistically the one remaining race for him in Europe is the Arc. But we want to know he is back on song and giving everyone the vibes we’re looking for.

“We want to be convinced he’s going to do himself justice. All the signs were that he would at Ascot, but he didn’t. Perhaps he just needed a bit more time and perhaps he had a much harder race at Epsom than we thought.

“People need to remember that Ascot was only his fourth race. He’s a big, scopey horse and he may just need a bit more time to strengthen up.”

Not many Derby winners stay in training beyond their Classic campaign, but Grimthorpe is not ruling out the possibility of Workforce running as four-year-old.

He went on: “If he improves as much as Harbinger did between three and four, then we’re going to have something quite special. It’s certainly a possibility that he could stay in training, but we haven’t really got there yet. That will be Prince Khalid’s decision.”

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.”

Harbinger put up a devastating performance to run right away with the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Olivier Peslier looked to be going best as he sat in fourth place as they turned into the straight in the Group One contest, and the response was electrifying when he asked for an effort.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt (4-1) brushed Derby winners Cape Blanco and Workforce aside as he powered an amazing 11 lengths clear, with Cape Blanco finishing second and Youmzain third.

Dar Re Mi has been ruled out of Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot after suffering a bruised foot.

John Gosden’s three-time Group One winner was due to tackle Derby hero Workforce as well as the talented Harbinger in the Betfair-sponsored contest but has been declared a non-runner.

Gosden’s racing secretary Peter Shoemark said: “She has bruised her foot and unfortunately that means she will be unable to run. It’s just unfortunate that it has come so close to the race but she will be absolutely fine. It’s not ideal but we’ll look forward now and the Yorkshire Oaks could be her next objective.”

Stablemates Workforce and Harbinger feature among eight possible runners in a mouth-watering renewal of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

Workforce was a hugely impressive winner of the Investec Derby at Epsom on his latest appearance and bids to become the first three-year-old since Alamshar in 2003 to win Ascot’s mid-summer showpiece.

Fellow Sir Michael Stoute inmate Harbinger arrives on the back of a runaway success in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot and will be ridden by Olivier Peslier, with stable jockey Ryan Moore siding with the Epsom hero.

Stoute trained Conduit, Tartan Bearer and Ask to a one-two-three in the race 12 months ago and is an outside bet to repeat the feat having also left in Confront, although he is likely to take up a pacemaking role.

Aidan O’Brien has saddled Galileo (2001), Dylan Thomas (2007) and Duke Of Marmalade (2008) to King George success and his main candidate this time would appear to be Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco.

Epsom runner-up At First Sight could join him on the trip from Ballydoyle for the Betfair-sponsored event.

John Gosden’s three-time Group One winner Dar Re Mi will bid to become the first filly or mare to win the race since Time Charter in 1983, a statistic which also faces French raider Daryakana. Youmzain completes the field as he continues to search for first British Group One win.

Daryakana, unraced at two, was unbeaten in five starts last year and although she has failed to strike in two starts since the turn of the year, her trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre feels she is now in peak condition.

He said: “It is going to be a very good race but the filly is going well. This will be her third run of the year and she is perfect. I think she will improve through the year. She didn’t have a good race at Saint-Cloud last time as there was no pace and it was not easy for her.”

Mawatheeq has been ruled out of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

The five-year-old has endured an interrupted campaign having been forced to miss the Dubai World Cup through injury and he was well beaten on his sole appearance of 2010 in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He was withdrawn at the start of the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown after failing to enter the stalls and trainer Marcus Tregoning does not feel his charge is ready to compete in Ascot’s Betfair-sponsored summer showpiece.

“We were going to work him somewhere this weekend but we decided against it and that means he will miss the King George,” said Tregoning.

“We’ve just decided to give him a bit more time as we don’t feel he’s going to be ready for Ascot.

“We haven’t decided where we’re going with him yet but we just feel he wants a bit more time after the injury problem he had in the spring.”

An announcement on who rides Harbinger in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes could be made this week.

Speculation has been rife on who will team up with the in-form Sir Michael Stoute-trained four-year-old in the Betfair-sponsored showpiece at Ascot on July 24.

Frankie Dettori and Paul Hanagan are among the names being linked with Harbinger after his regular partner Ryan Moore decided to stick with stablemate Workforce following their triumph in the Investec Derby.

Harbinger is unbeaten in three starts this term, culminating in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“We’re still waiting to hear on jockey booking confirmations and all that,” said Harry Herbert, racing manager to owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.

“It doesn’t look as though there will be too big a field in the race so it’s just a question of seeing who is doing what, and we are in Sir Michael’s hands on that one.

“He’s just waiting to hear. We have had conversations, but I can’t talk about that until we’ve had confirmation.

“I guess it wouldn’t take a genius to know what the short-list would be. It’s just waiting for the cards to fall and for trainers with other runners in the race knowing what they are going to do. Hopefully, something will be forthcoming this week.”

He went on: “He’s such a special horse, he’s such a beautiful-looking horse with a great temperament. We’ve seen this year he has a lovely cruising speed and then a tremendous turn of foot to quicken off that pace.

“This is what it’s all about from my side of things. It’s a big syndicate manager’s dream to have a horse like Harbinger, who will hopefully be lining up for Europe’s greatest midsummer spectacle.”

Harbinger has been given the green light to lock horns with Derby-winning stablemate Workforce in next month’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Sir Michael Stoute’s colt, owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, turned in a hugely impressive display in last weekend’s Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot and will now return to the Berkshire track for his first Group One assignment on July 24.

Speaking on www.highclere.co.uk, Stoute said: “He has come out of last week’s race in good form and cantered (on Thursday morning). He deserves to take his chance and, as we saw on Saturday, he was well-suited to Ascot’s galloping track.”

Highclere’s racing manager Harry Herbert added: “We are all thrilled that Sir Michael is keen to run Harbinger in the King George and what a race it promises to be, especially taking on such an impressive Derby winner in Workforce.

“This will be Highclere’s first runner in the race and all of our owners could not be more excited at the prospect.”