Australian stable produces the goods

Winners are coming at an unprecedented rate, prizemoney is on track to eclipse previous records and this season’s G1 victories already equal the total for the entire 2015-16 season – and the most lucrative months of the racing year are still ahead.

For Godolphin’s Australian stable, the 2016-2017 season is short of the halfway mark, but a year-end 'stocktake' shows there is already much to be satisfied about.

Overall, Godolphin head trainer John O’Shea and his team are winning races at a rate of better than one-in-five – the best of all Australia’s major stables.

After five months of the season that began on August 1, 2016, O’Shea’s team has sent out 106 winners, compared to 183 for 2015-2016.

At the top end, the Godolphin team has so far won 21 Stakes races in 2016-2017, among them the three G1s shared by Hartnell, Hauraki and Astern.

The “bottom line” has also taken on a healthy look with the victory of Kinshachi in the Listed Nudgee Quality in Brisbane on December 31 taking the stable’s earnings for the first five months of the season beyond A$9-million. In 2105-2016, Godolphin-owned runnners earned $15.27-million. A total that looks to be well within reach this time around.

“There’s no doubt the performance has been sound so far this season,” said Godolphin's managing director in Australia, Henry Plumptre.

“Horses like Hauraki and Astern clearly performed very well in the Spring and Hartnell’s G1 win and his placings in the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup were fantastic efforts that reflected the work of the entire operation,” Plumptre said.

“And apart from the Australian team, we had Charlie Appleby’s runners out here in the Spring doing great things.

“It’s true, it has been a good start to the year, but the job now is to maintain the momentum through the Autumn carnivals in Sydney and Melbourne and then on to Brisbane in the Winter.

“We have some nice older horses from Europe who have arrived since the Spring and should be running in the Autumn, as well as some nice two-year-olds who will be stepping out in the New Year and there are promising three-year-olds we are hoping will take the next step.”

O’Shea echoed Plumptre’s words, as always praising the team effort that keeps the stable performing at such a level.

“The team has done a wonderful job that reflects the efforts of everyone at Osborne Park and Crown Lodge,” O’Shea said.

“It’s an exciting time and we’re all looking forward to a great second half of the season.”

There will be no shortage of opportunities for Godolphin’s Australian runners during the various racing carnivals that run from February until the season ends on July 31.

Sydney alone will run 21 G1 events at its major Autumn meeting, including the A$3-million Golden Slipper Stakes for two-year-olds and the A$4-million Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with another 53 races at G2 and G3 level.

In Melbourne and Brisbane another 17 G1 races will be staged among 72 Group – and Godolphin’s royal blue silks will be on show in most of them.