Harbinger, unbeaten in his last four starts for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, including a record-breaking performance in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, has recorded his first stakes winner in Japan in three-year-old Beruf.
The Shadai-bred gained the judge’s verdict by a nose at Nakayama when winning the Grade 3 Kisei Hai Stakes over ten furlongs for trainer Yasutoshi Ikee.
Beruf’s dam, Les Clefs d’Or is a dual Graded stakes-winning daughter of Sunday Silence, who was also trained by Ikee and has produced three winners to date.
Harbinger, who stands at Shadai Stallion Station, was the leading first-seaon sire in Japan in 2014. His Galileo haly-brother topped last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale at 2.6 million guineas when offered by Ashbrittle Stud on behalf of breeders Nick and Anita Ooi.
