Hartnell ready for his third Melbourne Cup

The final pieces in the plan to run Hartnell in next Tuesday’s G1 Melbourne Cup have fallen into place and trainer James Cummings and the Godolphin team are satisfied their horse is ready for his greatest challenge.

In a race that features one of the strongest international contingents in its 157-year history, Hartnell, bred in Britain, trained in Australia and running for Dubai, is perhaps the most “international” of them all.

And as topweight in the 24-runner, 3,200m, A$6 million handicap, he is officially the horse with the superior record.

For Cummings and his team, the Cup has never been far from their minds during a preparation that began with a 1,400m victory in mid-August and has continued with a pair of second placings and a luckless effort in the G1 Caulfield Stakes in which he suffered severe interference.

“Hartnell has run well in shorter races this preparation, but over the past month he has been looking more and more like a two-miler,” Cummings said.

“We’re very happy with the decision to run in the Cup and we’re looking forward to him running well for Sheikh Mohammed and the entire team.”

If there is anyone in Australia who should know how a “two-miler” should look, it is the man who learned his craft from the greatest Melbourne Cup trainer of all time.

Cummings grandfather Bart Cummings won the race 12 times and during the years that his grandson trained in partnership with him the pair sent out three Cup runners, including Precedence who started in the race four times.

In putting Hartnell’s Cup plan together, Cummings went back to 2014 and the gelding’s first major success, the Listed Queen’s Vase over the Cup distance of two miles at Royal Ascot.

“I’ve gone through his record looking for any clue I can find that could help him, and what stands out is that his performances when fresh have been top class,” Cummings said.

“It’s no surprise when I look back through his form that his only win over two miles came at Ascot when he was fresh. He hadn’t raced for six weeks before that.”

Cummings also points to Hartnell’s first Australian start when he finished second in the G1 Chipping Norton Stakes, to his second in the G2 Warwick Stakes at the start of last spring and to his G2 PB Lawrence Stakes win that began his latest campaign as evidence of his ability to race well fresh.

“So we’ve given him a different preparation than he’s had leading up to his first two Melbourne Cups when he’d run in the Cox Plate at his previous start and gone to Flemington off an 11-day break.”

When he goes to post on Tuesday’s, Hartnell will have had a 24-day break.

Above all, Cummings is pleased with the attitude and condition of his horse.

“Hartnell has shown us that he’s ready to go again, and where better to do that than in Australia’s greatest race,” Cummings said.

“I had some fantastic experiences watching horses I trained with my grandfather run in the Cup, but to win it with Hartnell for Sheikh Mohammed and the whole Godolphin team would be incredible.”