Harbinger (left) was a huge improver in his four-year-old season for Sir Michael Stoute

Big improvers trained by Sir Michael Stoute including Singspiel, Harbinger and Crystal Ocean

By Timeform

Horse Racing

Sat May 28, 2022 · 4y ago

Following Bay Bridge's reappearance win at Sandown, Timeform profile six star horses trained by Sir Michael Stoute who improved with every year of racing.

Pilsudski

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 79 (2yo), 104p (3yo), 129 (4yo), 134 (5yo)

Pilsudski won only three of his first 10 races, but he progressed into a top-class performer, as tough and genuine a racehorse one could find, winning six Group One races and twice finishing second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.

After registering his first Group One success in the Grosser Preis von Baden in 1996, the four-year-old Pilsudski went on to fill the runner-up spot behind Helissio in the Arc before winning a strong renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Woodbine by a length and a quarter from stablemate Singspiel (more on whom shortly), Swain and the St Leger winner Shantou.

1996 Breeders' Cup Turf

Pilsudksi improved again as he added four more Group One victories to his tally the following year, winning the Eclipse at Sandown (beating Bosra Sham, who suffered trouble in running), the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (by four and a half lengths from the Irish 2000 Guineas/Derby winner Desert King), the Champion Stakes at Newmarket and the Japan Cup at Tokyo.

Sandwiched in between those performances were second-place finishes in both the King George at Ascot (beaten a length by Swain, with Helissio and Singspiel filling the frame) and the Arc (five lengths behind the outstanding Peintre Celebre). Outstandingly game and a credit to connections, he was retired to stud in Japan after his famous win there in 1997.

Singspiel

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 108p (2yo), 121 (3yo), 127 (4yo), 133 (5yo)

After finishing an encouraging fifth on his debut at Leicester – a course Sir Michael Stoute likes to introduce promising types at – Singspiel would go on to finish outside of the first two only twice from 20 starts, showing admirable consistency and tenacity.

Victory in a three-runner Listed race on his final outing of the campaign was his only success as a three-year-old, but he had shown himself capable of cutting it at the highest level, finishing runner-up to Halling in the Eclipse at Sandown, and he went on to make his top-level breakthrough in the Canadian International at Woodbine the following season.

Singspiel was unable to fend off stablemate Pilsudski in the Breeders’ Cup Turf over the same course and distance a month later, but he soon bagged another big prize by landing the Japan Cup at Tokyo on his final outing in 1996.

Up to that point in his career Singspiel’s record in the big races outstripped his rating, but he would take a jump forward in form terms as a five-year-old. He landed the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba on his return, followed up in the Coronation Cup at Epsom and, having disappointed in the King George at Ascot, he produced the performance of his career to win the Juddmonte International at York, bringing his earnings to an astonishing £3,600,000.

1997 Juddmonte International Stakes Singspiel Includes Replay & enclosure

Notnowcato

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 83 (2yo), 114p (3yo), 126 (4yo), 128 (5yo)

At the end of his three-year-old season in 2005, the smart Notnowcato appealed as very much the type to progress further, and, after being scratched from the season's first big handicap the Lincoln because he couldn't be made ready in time, he showed marked improvement on his reappearance to win the Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket, his first venture into pattern company.

After a routine success in a below-average renewal of the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown six weeks later, Notnowcato then appeared to have his limitations exposed when first tried at the top level, finishing only fifth in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and second in the Eclipse at Sandown.

However, any notions that he couldn’t win against the very best around were dismissed when he fought off stablemate Maraahel to land the Juddmonte International at York, a first victory in Group One company for both horse and rider, Ryan Moore.

Notnowcato returned an improved model again at the age of five, bouncing back from a below-par return in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown with a hard-fought defeat of Dylan Thomas in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh.

In four subsequent starts, all at the top level, Notnowcato won once more in the Eclipse at Sandown, benefiting from an enterprising ride from Moore whose actions in sending his mount on and bringing him to the stand side in the straight almost certainly made the difference between victory and defeat. The rest remained on the far side, with the Derby winner Authorized and the top-class George Washington forced to settle for minor honours.

Harbinger

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 118 (3yo), 140 (4yo)

Harbinger showed clear signs of talent during his first season of racing as a three-year-old, notably winning the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood in the style of an exciting prospect, but it was during his four-year-old campaign that he rocketed through the ranks and put up one of the finest performances in Timeform’s history.

After decisive successes in the John Porter Stakes at Newbury, the Ormonde Stakes at Chester and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, Harbinger was set his first Group One assignment in the King George back at Ascot.

It was a stellar line-up for Flat racing’s traditional mid-summer showpiece as the field included Harbinger’s stable companion Workforce – a wide-margin winner of the Derby on his previous outing – Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco and three-time Arc runner-up Youmzain.

In the event, Harbinger proved to be in a completely different league to his rivals, travelling powerfully under Olivier Peslier before unleashing a devastating turn of foot to settle the contest in a matter of strides. Despite Peslier riding with only hands and heels for much of the final furlong, Harbinger continued to roar clear of his flagging rivals, eventually scoring by 11 lengths.

A fracture of the near-fore cannon bone meant Harbinger never raced again, but there is little doubt the performance he put up at Ascot was that of an outstanding racehorse.

Harbinger - King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2010

Poet’s Word

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 76p (2yo), 109p (3yo), 124 (4yo), 129 (5yo)

Poet’s Word progressed steadily in his three-year-old days, but he didn’t run in pattern company until his second outing as a four-year-old when he went down by a neck to Deauville in the Huxley Stakes at Chester.

Later that summer Poet’s Word won in Group Three company in the Glorious Stakes at Goodwood before running two cracking races in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (edged out late on by Decorated Knight) and the Champion Stakes at Ascot. On the last occasion he was no match for Cracksman but left the impression, with a staying-on second, that he was only just beginning to reach his peak.

Poet’s Word reappeared as a five-year-old in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan where he added a third Group One second to his collection behind Hawkbill. Back in Britain, he comfortably justified short odds in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown’s big evening fixture to tee himself him up for a crack at the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Cracksman headed the opposition once again at Royal Ascot, but Poet’s Word was not to be denied this time as he saw off that rival by two and a quarter lengths in ready fashion.

Poet’s Word went on to double his Group One tally in the King George at Ascot the following month, finding plenty to beat stablemate Crystal Ocean by a neck, but he sadly ran only once more, when second behind Roaring Lion in the Juddmonte International at York, before injury ended his career.

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Crystal Ocean

End-of-season Timeform ratings: 82P (2yo), 123p (3yo), 129 (4yo), 133 (5yo)

Crystal Ocean will be best remembered as an exceptionally tough, consistent horse with a tremendous constitution, but it should not be forgotten that he also possessed rare ability.

Like so many from the yard, Crystal Ocean was handled patiently during his classic campaign, notably winning the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood and signing off with a meritorious second in an extremely strong renewal of the St Leger, in which he was beaten by Capri but finished in advance of Stradivarius, Rekindling, Coronet and Defoe among others.

After kicking off his four-year-old campaign with three straight wins, including in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, Crystal Ocean then produced another huge effort in defeat in the King George back at Ascot, where he was agonisingly overhauled by stablemate Poet’s Word in a thrilling finish.

It seemed just a matter of time before Crystal Ocean won at the top level and the breakthrough finally came when he beat Magical and Waldgeist – subsequent winners of the Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, respectively – in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes back at Royal Ascot as a five-year-old.

In pure form terms, he bettered even that effort when going on to fill the runner-up spot in the King George for the second year in a row, pushing the dual Arc winner Enable – who was receiving 3 lb – all the way in a race for the ages, enhancing his reputation despite losing by a neck.