Hartnell third, Qewy fourth in Melbourne Cup

The major prize eluded Godolphin’s G1 Melbourne Cup contingent, but the team ran bravely and well to figure in the finish of Australia’s greatest race at Flemington on Tuesday, November 1.

With Hartnell (John O’Shea/James McDonald) proving to be the pride of the team in third place and Qewy (Charlie Appleby/Craig Williams) taking fourth, the stable made its presence felt in the A$6-million race. 

Godolphin chief executive and racing manager John Ferguson said the result was unfortunate, but far from tragic.“At the end of the day to come here and finish third and fourth is a great achievement,” Ferguson said.“I’m absolutely delighted with the way the team has operated and, most importantly, we’ll keep trying.”

Hartnell continued his sparkling form this season with another courageous effort. The son of Authorized joined the leaders soon after turning for home but a hard run throughout most of the race left him defenceless when the runs came from the back.

First it was the Irish galloper Heartbreak City who loomed and then the former German runner Almandin. That pair raced clear with Almandin doing best to score by a long head from Heartbreak City with Hartnell 4-1/4 lengths further back.

Right behind them came Qewy who finished powerfully to take fourth.

The outcome also proved to be somewhat equitable with the three Godolphin trainers with runners in the race all getting into the money with Saeed bin Suroor’s Beautiful Romance coming from near last to finish seventh.

For Hartnell, trainer John O’Shea and jockey James McDonald, the third placing followed a similar result 10 days earlier in Australia’s best WFA race, the Cox Plate.

“I’m extremely proud of him,” O’Shea said. “He was wide for much of the race and he still put himself into it. He’s had a wonderful preparation and the team have done a fantastic job to get him to where he is.”

Rider James McDonald said Hartnell had performed superbly.“He got into a good rhythm down the back, he just runs a bit too freely for a two-mile race. But he’s a good galloper who gave it a good crack.”

Charlie Appleby also took great satisfaction from the run of Qewy who has also won the Geelong Cup and more than trebled his lifetime earnings in those two runs. 

“Qewy’s gone and run the race of his life,” Appleby said. “We came here without even being in the race, we won our way into the Melbourne Cup and we’ve done well.

“We’ve also learned a lot and we’ll be back with a bigger team next year.”