Harbour (1979–1985) was a French

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. In the early part of 1982 she appeared to establish herself as the best of an exceptionally strong group of French three-year-old fillies by winning the Prix Vanteaux, Prix Saint-Alary and Prix de Diane and decisively defeating rivals including

All Along All Along (7 April 1979 – 23 February 2005) was a champion Thoroughbred racemare that was foaled in France. She was one of the top fillies of the last part of the 20th century, racing mostly in Europe. All Along was named into the National ...

and

Akiyda Akiyda (foaled 21 April 1979) was a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning France's mot prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1982. After winning her only race as a two-year-old she ...

. Her form was less impressive in the autumn and was retired after a disappointing run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Background

Harbour was a "lightly-made" chestnut filly with a white blaze and four white socks bred and owned by the Head family's Ecurie Aland. She was from the first crop of foals sired by

Arctic Tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south a ...

, whose biggest win had been a victory over Exceller in the Prix Ganay. Arctic Tern went on to sire many other good winners including Bering and was the leading sire in France in 1986. Her dam Here's To You was a descendant of the American broodmare Warrior Lass, making her a distant relative of

Bounding Home Bounding Home (1941 – February 23, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the upset winner of the 1944 Belmont Stakes that deprived Pensive of the U.S. Triple Crown. Career Bred by foodstuffs manufacturer William Zi ...

and

Riva Ridge Riva Ridge (April 13, 1969 – April 21, 1985) was a Thoroughbred racehorse, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1972. Often remembered simply as a stablemate of Secretariat, Riva Ridge was a successful racehorse in his own rig ...

. Harbour remained in the control of the Head family throughout her racing career, being trained at Chantilly by Criquette Head and ridden in all her major races by her trainer's brother Freddy.

Racing career

1981: two-year-old season

After finishing third on her racecourse debut, Harbour was entered in a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

over 1600 metres at Maisons-Laffitte in November. The filly drew clear of her ten opponents in the closing stages and won by four

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from Kazatska. In their annual, Racehorses of 1981, the independent Timeform organisation described her as "the type to make a very useful middle-distance 3-y-o".

1982: three-year-old season

Harbour began her three-year-old season in the

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

Prix Vanteaux over 1900 m at Longchamp Racecourse in April. She recorded her first important win by beating Estere with Akiyda in third. Harbour was then moved up in class to contest the Group One Prix Saint-Alary over 2000 m at the same course on 23 May. Racing on heavy ground she started third favourite behind All Along and the Prix Marcel Boussac winner Play It Safe. Harbour won easily by four lengths from All Along, with Freddy Head never having to use his whip. The ground was heavy again on 13 June when Harbour was one of fourteen fillies to contest the Prix de Diane over 2100 m at Chantilly Racecourse. She was made 6/5 favourite, with her main opposition expected to come from River Lady, who had been an impressive winner of the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. She was in third place early in the straight when River Lady was pulled up after sustaining an injury which proved to be fatal. Harbour took the lead soon after and won easily by two lengths from Akiyda, with All Along in fifth place. Harbour was rested after her win in the Prix de Diane and returned in autumn with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as her principal objective. Her trial race for the Arc was the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on 12 September. Racing on much firmer ground than she had previously encountered she ran a satisfactory race to finish a close fourth behind All Along, Akiyda and Grease. Her performance was particularly impressive as Freddy Head had struggled to obtain a clear run for the filly and she was closing on the leaders at the finish. On 3 October, racing on her favoured soft ground, Harbour started the 6.25/1 third favourite for the Arc behind the three-year-old colts Assert and Bon Sang. She became extremely agitated before the start and ran disappointingly, finishing ninth of the seventeen runners behind Akiyda.

Assessment

Harbour was given a rating of 111 by Timeform in 1981, eleven pounds below their top-rated two-year-old filly Circus Ring. In the following season, Timeform's rating of 129 made Harbour their fourth best three-year-old filly behind Akiyda,

Time Charter Time Charter (6 April 1979 – 7 July 2005) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won several major middle-distance races between 1982 and 1984. After winning twice as a two-year-old in 1981, she devel ...

and

Awaasif Awaasif (27 April 1979 – May 2004) was a Canadian-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After winning once as a two-year-old in 1981, she emerged as a top-class middle-distance runner in the following season, when she ...

. In the official International Classification she was rated the second-best three-year-old filly (behind Akiyda) and the tenth-best horse of any age or sex in Europe.

Stud career

Harbour was retired from racing after her run in the Arc and it was reported that she would be sent to the United States to be covered by the stallion

Raja Baba Raja Baba (April 5, 1968 – October 9, 2002) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who became the 1980 Champion sire in North America. Background Raja Baba was sired by Bold Ruler, the leading sire in North America eight times and a National ...

. Harbour did not produce any foals that lived to maturity. She aborted the Raja Baba foal in 1984 after importation to the United States and died in 1985 after delivering a stillborn foal.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist, 2 1979 racehorse births 1985 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 1-k