Godolphin and head trainer John OâShea have confirmed autumn plans with stable star Hartnell who is set to follow a similar campaign into the Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2017 as champion mare Winx.
Hartnell could be facing plenty more autumn racing heartbreak facing the country’s best Winx over the season in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.
Of the four Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival targets on the card for $3 million earner Hartnell, all but one of them will see him meet with the countryâs best horse Winx.
To date the six-year-old son of Authorized, originally raced in the UK, has faced off against Wallerâs heroic Cox Plate winner four times.
He ran fifth to her in the 2015 Cox Plate and second, spanked by eight lengths in a record-breaking winning margin, in last yearâs edition of the Australasian weight-for-age championship.
He also ran fifth in last yearâs Chipping Norton Stakes and second in the Warwick Stakes.
This time in both gallopers are down to resume racing and renew rivalries in the $250,000 Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) on February 11.
While that will be Winxâs first run since the Cox Plate triumph, Hartnellâs last start was a brave third to Almandin in the Melbourne Cup over the two miles.
After the Apollo the Winx and Hartnell show will remain at Royal Randwick on February 25 in the $600,000 Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m).
From there Winx is set to defend her title in the $1 million Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 18, a race Waller has won four times to date.
Hartnell then gets his chance at his third Group 1 win to add to his 2015 The BMW and 2016 Turnbull Stakes victories when he faces a Winx-less field in the $700,000 Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m).
The Ranvet Stakes is on the same Rosehill card as the George Ryder as part of a bumper Golden Slipper Stakes Day line-up and was won last year by The United States (2016).
Hartnell will be looking to be the second Chipping Norton Stakes graduate in three years to back-up and win the Ranvet after Contributer (2015) did the double for OâShea two years ago.
That is seemingly the only relief Hartnell will get with his campaign Grand Final seeing him take on Winx once more in the lucrative $4 million Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 8 during âThe Championshipsâ.
âHartnell is pretty simple and he will just go through the Apollo, Chipping Norton and then he will run in the Ranvet and Queen Elizabeth,â OâShea told The Daily Telegraph this week also confirming a January 27 trial for Hartnell at Randwick.
All-in Queen Elizabeth Stakes odds are already out at Ladbrokes.com.au and are unsurprisingly dominated by Winx at $1.90.
Hartnell occupies the second line of futures Queen Elizabeth Stakes betting at $11.
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