Hartnell ruled out of the Autumn Carnival

Imported five year old Hartnell has been ruled out of the remainder of the rich Sydney Autumn Carnival, including ‘The Championships’, after succumbing to a hind leg injury.

Hartnell has been ruled of the 2016 Sydney Autumn Carnival. Photo by Steve Hart.

Hartnell has been ruled of the 2016 Sydney Autumn Carnival. Photo by Steve Hart.

Godolphin trainer John O’Shea had to scratch Hartnell from last Saturday’s Group 3 $350,000 Sky High Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill when the gelding developed some swelling around his hock, a conditions known as a ‘curbed hock’.

O’Shea said that Hartnell was definitely out for the remainder of the Autumn Carnival and the stable would closely monitor the injury and a decision on his racing future would be made in a couple of weeks.

“Hartnell presented with a minor setback on Saturday morning and was subsequently scratched from the Sky High Stakes at Rosehill,” O’Shea said in a statement released on twitter.

“The decision has been made to send him to the paddock thus ruling him out for the remainder of the Autumn carnival.”

“We will continue to monitor his condition over the next two weeks upon which a decision on his future will be made.”

Hartnell was a well performed Group 3 winner in England when the Godolphin team decided to send him to Australia and O’Shea was able to turn him into a Group 1 winner during the 2015 Sydney Autumn Carnival at is first preparation down under.

At his first start on Australian soil, the Authorized gelding ran second to stablemate and fellow import Contributer in the Group 1 $500,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Warwick Farm and then broke through for a win in last year’s running of the Sky High Stakes.

Hartnell was then sent out as one of the top fancies for the Group 1 $1.5m The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill and saluted with James McDonald in the saddle before running fourth as favourite to Grand Marshal in the Group 1 $1.6m Schweppes 150th Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick on day two of ‘The Championships’.

Hartnell failed to fire during the 2015 Spring Carnival and ended his campaign with a fifteenth, beaten almost six lengths, to Prince Of Penzance in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington.

O’Shea had mapped out a similar Autumn Carnival this year for Hartnell who was among the nominations for the 2016 Sydney Cup.

Hartnell is the winner of the seven races from twenty-two starts with earnings of just over $1.6m in prizemoney.

 

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.