Unraced as a juvenile and the winner of two of his five starts as three-year-old, including an unremarkable renewal of the Group Three Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, but nonetheless blossomed into an outstanding middle-distance performer in his curtailed four-year-old campaign. Indeed, he won John Porter Stakes at Newbury and the Ormonde Stakes at Chester – both Group Three contests – followed by the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot before making a mockery of the opposition in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, over the same course and distance, on his first attempt at Group One level, the following month.

The King George featured a small, but select, field, which included Derby-winning stablemate Workforce, for whom he was forsaken by regular partner Ryan Moore, Irish Derby winner

Capo Blanco and Youmzain, who had finished second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Pushed into the lead by jockey Olivier Peslier inside the final quarter-of-mile, the son of Dansili was soon well clear and ran on strongly for an impressive, 11-length win from Cape Blanco. He was awarded a Timeform rating of 140, making him the joint-eighth highest-rated Flat horse in the history of that organisation, alongside such luminaries as Shergar, Dancing Brave and Sea The Stars, to name but three.

Spokesman for owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing. Harry Herbert, later hailed his victory as ‘one of the greatest performances of all time’. However, less than a fortnight later, Harbinger suffered a leg fracture while exercising on the gallops at Freemason Lodge, the home of his trainer Sir Michael Stoute, in Newmarket, Suffolk. He underwent a life-saving operation, but no sooner had he shot to prominence in the middle-distance division than his career was over. At the time of his retirement, he was short-priced favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, so who knows what he might have achieved had fate not intervened.

Harbinger showing them all how it’s done in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2010)

Until January, 2013, Dancing Brave had the distinction of being the highest-rated horse in the history of Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, which began in 1977. Indeed, his demotion, in favour of the unbeaten Frankel, was the result of downward revision of his rating of 141, which had stood for almost three decades, to 138. The so-called ‘historical recalibration’ was intended to reflect the evolution of handicapping methodology in the interim, but was described by the late Walter Swinburn as ‘baffling’.

Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, under the auspices of Prince Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud, and trained by Guy Harwood, Pulborough, Dancing Brave won eight of his ten races. In 1986, the son of Lyphard enjoyed an illustrious three-year-old campaign, winning the 2,000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Indeed, his performance in the latter race, which included the Derby winner, Sharastani, Prix du Jockey Club winner, Bering and Champion Stakes winner, Triptych, among others, was one of the most memorable in the history of the Longchamp showpiece. Switched off at the rear of the field by jockey Pat Eddery, Dancing Brave was still among the backmarkers at the entrance to the short, three-furlong straight. Switched to the wide outside, and asked for maximum effort, with a furlong-and-a-half to run, Dancing Brave produced a scintillating turn of foot, sweeping past a dozen rivals in the closing stages to win comfortably.

Unfortunately, though, Dancing Brave will also be remembered equally well for the exaggerated –

and, in the eyes of many observers, woefully misjudged – waiting tactics employed by jockey Greville Starkey in the Derby. Nigh on last of the seventeen runners rounding Tattenham Corner, Dancing Brave made relentless progress all the way up the straight, but failed by half a length to overhaul Dante Stakes winner Sharahstani. Although defended by Harwood, among others, Starkey was inevitably blamed, with some justification, for setting Dancing Brave an impossible task.

Dancing Brave wins the 1986 2000 Guineas