Can Hartnell stop Winx juggernaut?
WILL Winx stretch her winning streak to 13 or can Hartnell finally beat the great mare? That’s the big question, writes Ray Thomas in his weekly column.
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WILL Winx stretch her winning streak to 13 or can Hartnell finally beat the great mare?
The stellar showdown between the two superstars of Australian racing for the Cox Plate is becoming one of the most anticipated races in years.
Winx made it 12 wins in succession when she reeled off some brilliant sectionals before powering past Black Heart Bart to take out the Caulfield Stakes last Saturday and is at the peak of form for her Cox Plate defence at Moonee Valley on October 22.
Hartnell has monstered his rivals in the Chelmsford Stakes, Hill Stakes and Turnbull Stakes in recent starts and is considered the main danger to Winx.
The pair dominate Cox Plate betting. Winx is at $1.90, Hartnell at $3, then it is $15 or longer the field.
Winx holds a 3-0 advantage in head-to-head clashes with Hartnell. These include their Cox Plate clash last year when Winx beat the Godolphin galloper by more than 10 lengths.
But Hartnell is going better than ever this spring and it is set to be a clash of epic proportions.
Bart needs the numbers to beat Winx
BLACK Heart Bart has now had nine starts for trainer Darren Weir, alternating between second and first placing in each race.
And if he continues this sequence, he is due to produce a monumental upset in the Cox Plate.
He was no match for Winx in the Caulfield Stakes, again raising doubts about his ability to run a genuine 2000m. But jockey Brad Rawiller said Black Heart Bart “wasn’t trounced” by Winx and is keen to press on to the Cox Plate.
Rawiller’s riding tactics made the three-horse Caulfield Stakes compelling theatre. He turned the race into a sprint home, easing wide from the 600m and taking Winx off the track.
Rawiller was hoping Winx may have got unbalanced when being ridden into the final bend on the tricky Caulfield track and this could have given Black Heart Bart the chance to slip clear.
But Winx’s rider Hugh Bowman maintains the mare is the best-balanced horse he has ridden and she was quickly able to overhaul the leader and race away for a another comprehensive win.
Hawkes hold out of Plate decision
TEAM Hawkes hasn’t ruled out a Cox Plate start for Caulfield Guineas winner Divine Prophet.
Trainer John Hawkes said Divine Prophet was still in the Cox Plate and a final decision will be made in the next few days.
“You can’t worry about one or two horses,’’ Hawkes said in a direct reference to Winx and Hartnell.
The Hawkes stable doesn’t shy away from running a three-year-old in the Cox Plate, winning it with champion colt Octagonal in 1995.
Hawkes threw Viscount into the Cox Plate cauldron in 2001 and the colt tested Northerly and Sunline in a memorable finish.
The Hawkes-trained All Too Hard won the Caulfield Guineas in 2012 then backed up to beat all but Ocean Park in the Cox Plate.
Rose among the mighty torns
YANKEE Rose is set to add further intrigue to the Cox Plate after she became the first filly to win the Spring Champion Stakes at Royal Randwick last Saturday.
Trainer David Vandyke confirmed Yankee Rose will line up in the weight-for-age championship at Moonee Valley and attempt to become only the second filly after Surround 40 years ago to win the Cox Plate.
Melbourne jockey Dean Yendall rode his first Group 1 winner on Yankee Rose and he will ride the filly at 47.5kg in the Cox Plate.
Gai: I’m going nowhere
GAI Waterhouse felt compelled to address rumours her decision to take on a training partner, Adrian Bott, is part of her exit plan from training.
“I am not retiring!” Waterhouse declared on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast Weekend show on Sunday.
To the contrary, the Hall of Fame trainer said her partnership with Bott has reinvigorated her passion for racehorse training.
“I can assure you I am going nowhere,’’ Waterhouse said. “With Adrian taking on some of the load, I can concentrate on training the horses which is what I love doing. This has given me a new lease of life.’’
Waterhouse prepared her 136th Group 1 winner with Global Glamour while the filly gave Bott his first Melbourne major.
She said Global Glamour will return to Sydney on Monday and be spelled before being prepared for the $2 million Magic Million 3YO Guineas on the Gold Coast in January.
Sydney domination there for all to see
SYDNEY gallopers claimed three Group 1 races and half the 10-race program at Caulfield on Saturday.
Divine Prophet (Caulfield Guineas), Winx (Caulfield Stakes) and Global Glamour (Thousand Guineas) won the majors while Star Turn (Schillaci Stakes) and Chetwood (Weekend Hussler Stakes) also won impressively.
Star Turn, who is owned by Alan Bell who also raced 1990s sprint king Schillaci, toyed with his older rivals to win the weight-for-age sprint easily in fast time.
Team Hawkes has confirmed Star Turn will now go straight to the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day — setting up a stellar showdown with Astern and Extreme Choice among others.
Astern’s trainer John O’Shea also has big plans for the exciting Chetwood after his runaway win.
Chetwood has won four races in succession with O’Shea likely to spell the four-year-old ahead of an autumn campaign where he is likely to target races like the Orr Stakes and Futurity Stakes.
Champion day of the spring
THE Royal Randwick track hasn’t raced so well for many months and produced another very fair racing surface last Saturday.
The Australian Turf Club would also have been pleased with the Spring Champion Stakes Day crowd of 18,779, which topped last week’s Epsom Day attendance of 18,269.
This is adding weight to the ATC proposal to push the Epsom meeting to the second Saturday in October, as revealed in The Daily Telegraph last Friday.
Randwick should get another crowd of close to 20,000 for the City Tattersall’s Club Cup meeting next Saturday.
Highway to thrilling racing
THE TAB Highway continues to produce competitive racing with Distinctive Look winning again at Royal Randwick.
The success of these restricted races for country-trained horses has prompted the Australian Turf Club to introduce another race for bush gallopers only, the $100,000 Country Classic at Rosehill later this month.
The Country Classic continues the Racing NSW ethos to spread recent prizemoney increases across all sectors of the racing industry.
Partnerships making a significant impact
TRAINING partnerships are in vogue and becoming very successful in Australian racing.
Hall of Famer John Hawkes and his sons Wayne and Michael celebrated another major with Divine Prophet, Waterhouse and Bott had their moment of glory, as did the David Hayes-Ben Hayes-Tom Dabernig partnership with He’s Our Rokkii in the Toorak Handicap.
David Hayes, also a Hall of Fame trainer, has now prepared 83 career Group 1 winners but this was the first with his son, Ben.
Originally published as Can Hartnell stop Winx juggernaut?
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