Hartnell ready to bounce back to Melbourne

The Melbourne campaign of Godolphin’s leading Australian stakes winner Hartnell continues on Saturday when he tackles a familiar field in the G2 Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday, 24 February.

Hartnell (Craig Williams) demonstrated the versatility and resilience that has become a trademark of his Australian career with his successful return to racing over 1,400m in the G1 CF Orr Stakes, also at Caulfield, two weeks ago and trainer James Cummings is satisfied the three-time G1 winner is capable of a repeat.

Cummings adopted a new tactic following Hartnell’s latest win, returning the horse from Melbourne to his Sydney base where he could enjoy the open spaces of Godolphin’s Osborne Park complex. 

“We just wanted to see Hartnell have an easy time, see how he bounced back before we locked in any targets,” he said.

“He’s done even better than I expected.

“Having him in the rural environment at Osborne Park has suited him perfectly.

“He’ll be bouncing off the truck when he arrives back in Melbourne.

“I’m satisfied with the decision to go back to Melbourne, it’s the best option.

“Running him at Caulfield on Saturday will keep him in touch with the other horses and then we’ll be taking him back to Sydney and coming back again for the Flemington race.”

“After that we’ll have a think about some G1s in Sydney like the Ranvet Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth.”

The 1,800m of the Peter Young looks an ideal, second-up assignment for a horse who has won over 2,400m at G1-level and whose major targets this time in are the G1 Australian Cup (2,000m) and, possibly, the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the same trip.

Cummings had been considering the G1 Chipping Norton Stakes, run at Randwick on Saturday, 3 March as another option, but has virtually settled on the Australian Cup at Flemington

Among his opponents in the Peter Young are the G1 winner Single Gaze and the progressive filly Abbey Marie both of whom finished behind him in the Orr Stakes, the former French-trained Gailo Chop and fellow Europeans Almandin, The Taj Mahal and Spirit Jim.

Hartnell is the winner of more than A$4.7 million having added seven Australian victories to the five he scored in the UK.