Goldikova voted Euro Horse of the Year over Harbinger

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I'm sure it boiled down to 5 Group 1 wins this year VS 1 Group 1 win.

I have no doubt Harbinger's win in the King George and Queen Elizabeth this year is certainly the greatest turf performance I've ever seen. Probably the single greatest turf performance of all-time. His easy win in the Gr 2 race a start prior turned out to be a monumental key race...and also was an incredible performance in hindsight.

Harbinger's final race:




Harbinger's 4yo season:




I read a lot of Euro's crying after the race how Workforce and Cape Blanco must be frauds... they both got a 12lbs weight break from Harbinger and both got slaughtered. It only took a single race from each to prove that wrong.

Cape Blanco returned to make an absolute mockery of Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over.. both of which are 3-time Group 1 winners. He won the Irish Championship by 5.5 lengths at 6/1 odds. His record is outstanding on non-soft ground.




Workforce returned to win the Arc at 6/1 odds next time out.




As mentioned in a thread a few days after the King George ... Harbinger's Beyer was unquestionably in the 125-to-130 range... impossibly fast for turf racing. http://www.derbytrail.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37359

He was easily the best horse to race in the world this year.

[randallscott35]

That 135 was lower than it should've been for Harbinger. And I agree on the performance.