Team Godolphin are considering a Caulfield Cup 2017 bid with their $4 million earner Hartnell over any more defeats at the hand of Hall of Famer Winx this coming spring.
2017 Caulfield Cup hope Hartnell will avoid another clash with super mare Winx in the spring. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Now prepared by the stable’s new head trainer James Cummings, European import Hartnell has had seven runs against Chris Waller’s record breaking mare Winx for seven losses.
He has been second past the post behind the champion in three of their encounters including his last start when over five lengths beaten at Randwick on April 8 in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Hartnell is a dual Group 1 winner, his latest turf triumph producing the three and a quarter-length win over subsequent Caulfield Cup champion Jameka in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington last October.
He backed-up from that to finish runner-up behind Winx in the $3 million Cox Plate (2040m), the mighty mare taking out Australasia’s weight-for-age championship by a historical eight length winning margin.
Hartnell also took on Winx in the 2015 Cox Plate finishing fifth.
This coming spring Waller is preparing his stable ace for a shot at a third straight Cox Plate triumph.
The Ladbrokes Cox Plate 2017 then has been firmly ruled out of Hartnell’s coming campaign.
Instead the rising six-year-old son of Authorized will actively avoid another encounter with Winx and potentially target the $3.15 million Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 21.
“We’re going to try and stick to a path that [Winx] isn’t necessarily going to be treading down,” Cummings told RSN 927’s Racing Pulse.
“I think he looks to be in good shape and Reidy [Paul Reid] thinks that he looks as well as ever so that’s a positive thing to hear.
“He hasn’t won in six starts but I think if we can steer him towards races where he’s not chasing home a ghost then he’ll be in with a chance.”
Hartnell has never lined-up in a Caulfield Cup field, but he ran fourth in the 2015 Sydney Cup and has twice contested the iconic Melbourne Cup over the two miles at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.
After his Cox Plate second last spring, the gelding ran an eye-catching third to round out the 2016 Melbourne Cup trifecta behind Almandin (1st) and Heartbreak City (2nd).
Cummings named the $200,000 Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 19 as the likely spring starting point for Hartnell, who was also likely to head to Flemington for a Turnbull Stakes title defence on October 7.
“He’d probably get about 57kg [in the Caulfield Cup] but all things being equal he would be our top seed for the race,” he said.
“We’re certainly going to think about it and we can probably decide that after Turnbull Stakes Day and that is when we’ll know exactly what we’re doing there.”
Vo Rogue (1987-88) was the last back-to-back Turnbull Stakes winner.
The Turnbull Stakes has proved a key Caulfield Cup form line over the past two decades including producing five of the past eight winners of the later.
The last horse to complete the Turnbull Stakes – Caulfield Cup double meanwhile was Elvstroem (2004).
Current pre-nomination Caulfield Cup odds at Ladbrokes.com.au feature six co-$17 favourites, including Hartnell.
Check out the full all-in Caulfield Cup 2017 betting markets now at Ladbrokes.com.au.