Harbinger records his first Grade 1 winner as a sire

Harbinger - who earned world champion honours in 2010 for his scintillating display in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes - supplied his first top-flight winner as a sire when his daughter Deirdre delivered a late charge to win the Shuka Sho for three-year-old fillies over 1m2f at Kyoto on Sunday.

Trained by Mitsuru Hashida and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Deirdre crossed the line one and a quarter lengths in front of Lys Gracieux (by Heart's Cry), with third-placed Mozu Katchan only a nose away from giving Harbinger a coveted one-two at the highest level.

Bred by Northern Farm and owned by Touji Morita, Deirdre is a half-sister to the Listed-placed Falbrav colt Odysseus, out of Reizend, a placed half-sister to Renforcer and Northern River, both Graded winners in Japan.

Deirdre's third dam is Sonic Lady, champion three-year-old filly in Europe in 1986.

Shuka Sho result

Harbinger, who earned a sky-high Racing Post Rating of 135 for his 11-length defeat of Cape Blanco in the King George, was retired to Shadai Stallion Station in Japan following his Ascot triumph due to a leg injury, and has stood there for the past seven years.

Harbinger's own sire, Dansili, is gradually carving out a reputation for himself as a sire of sires, and Deirdre's win on Sunday helps to cement that further.

Bated Breath's Group 2-winning son Beckford, for example, hit the crossbar twice in elite company at the Curragh this year, while Zoffany's first two-year-olds won three of the six juvenile contests at Royal Ascot in 2015.

Other sons to have sired Group 1 winners are Rail Link, who supplied top-class juvenile Epicuris and Australian Cup hero Spillway, and Strategic Prince, sire of the 2013 Matron Stakes winner La Collina.

It should also be noted that Dansili's daughters Dank and Fallen For You produced yearlings that topped the last two renewals of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

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