Harbinger sold, will stand in Japan

Harbinger, who capped a four-race win streak with an 11-length victory in this year’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, has been sold for stud duty in Japan.

The Yoshida family’s Shadai Farm has purchased Harbinger, a 4-year-old son of Dansili and Penang Pearl.

Highclere Racing, which campaigned Harbinger, said in a statement about the private transaction that “the multimillion-dollar deal values the horse as one of the highest-priced transactions in recent times.”

Highclere director John Warren said that the syndicate members would have liked to have kept Harbinger in Great Britain.

“There were a number of top stud farms from both home and abroad involved in the negotiations, and there was a very strong bid to keep the horse in England,” Warren said. “Unfortunately for the British bloodstock industry, the final bid from the famous Shadai Group, where Sunday Silence stood, was far too strong to be able to compete.”

Harbinger retired Aug. 9, two days after fracturing his left foreleg during a routine gallop at Newmarket. He underwent surgery the same day to repair the injury, but Highclere decided to retire him “based on the welfare of the horse, which is paramount to all concerned,” according to an announcement at the time.

“Harbinger is recovering well and is a model patient,” a Sept. 2 statement from Highclere said after the stud deal. “He should be sound enough to travel within a few months.”

Harbinger is the first stakes winner for the Bering mare Penang Pearl, a stakes winner herself.