It’s been a decade since Harbinger’s astonishing 11-length King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes victory and with the race running again this weekend, we thought it would be nice to look back on his triumph on this week’s From The Horse’s Mouth Podcast.
However, while Ruby had a good go at reminiscing about Harbinger’s triumph, Paddy flew off his perch, insisting it’s an outrage that Harbinger has the same rating as the likes of Sea The Stars and Shergar after just one, albeit impressive, Group 1 victory.
“That annoys me that he’s rated the same as those great horses,” Paddy argued on this week’s From The Horse’s Mouth podcast, “I don’t know what the science says, but I assume you’re able to throw in one amazing performance [and get a good rating].
“It’s the only Group 1 he ever ran in, right? So, he’s run in Group 2s and Group 3s before that and I know he hacked up, but Ryan Moore rode him every other race he ever had in his career.
I know he won the Derby on Workforce, but if they knew Harbinger was 11-lengths better than the Derby winner, surely Ryan Moore would have thought about riding him, at least?
“It’s hard to say what he would or wouldn’t have done if he hadn’t been retired or whatever, but I just don’t think you can say he’s the horse of a generation because he won one race!”
“I agree with Paddy,” Ruby admitted, “A good horse is a sound horse and Harbinger wasn’t sound enough. To be great you have to be sound, you have to be an Enable.
“You have to come back year after year or [be] like Sea The Stars who put six consecutive Group 1 wins together. To put Harbinger up in that league… not for me I’m afraid.”
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