On Track - Autumn 2021

13 Hartnell amassed an enviable record in his seven-year racing career and was a fan favourite of thoroughbred racing fans worldwide. In his new career as a showjumper, he looks like scaling similar heights and is earning fans in a new sport after an impressive equestrian debut. Competing at his first event in January, the nine- year-old gelding won the Champion Led Rising Star Thoroughbred class, beating another champion of the turf, Chautauqa, the 2015 Group 1 Manikato Stakes winner. Hartnell is impressively bred and cleverly named. By Authorized (IRE) out of Debonnaire (GB), Hartnell, named after Sir Norman Hartnell, a leading British fashion Designer in the 1940s and 1950s; Norman Hartnell was “authorised” to work as a dressmaker for the ladies of the Royal Family and was known as a confident, stylish and “debonair” personality. Hartnell the racehorse was most versatile, beginning his racing career in the UK in 2013 and winning his first stakes race as a three-year-old over 3219 metres at Royal Ascot. He travelled to Australia in November 2014, winning consistently at the top level, including; eight Group races/ four Group 1’s - The 2015 BMW over 2400 metres, 2016 Turnbull Stakes over 2000 metres, 2018 C F Orr Stakes over 1400 metres and a track record win in the 2018 Epsom Handicap over 1600 metres. He amassed almost $7.5M in prizemoney and finished runner-up to the legendary Winx in the 2016 Cox Plate before running third in the Melbourne Cup. Like Subzero before him, Hartnell has formed a special relationship with one of his handlers. Reg Fleming is Godolphin’s Assistant Trainer and previously helped run Bart Cummings stable. He has worked with countless champions of the track, including So You Think, Saintly and Viewed, but it’s Hartnell that has a special place in his heart. The bond is so great that Godolphin granted Fleming a custodianship to lead Hartnell through their Lifetime Care program, which aims to ensure the quality of life and facilitate careers for their racehorses once they finish racing. Not only Godolphin’s Group 1 winners are treated like royalty after their racing career, but the love and care shown to Harntell is also afforded to all Godolphin’s horses post racing, regardless of the success they enjoyed on the track. Racing Victoria, leading trainers and racehorse owners recognise that a horses life after racing is a matter of Corporate Social responsibility. Racing Victoria’s Off The Track program aims to facilitate the placement of retired thoroughbred racehorses in second careers. The program educates the community on retraining a thoroughbred for a second career, the options after racing and their versatility of use. Godolphin leads the way with their Lifetime Care program, and Hartnell’s demonstrated versatility is putting a spotlight on him and the industry’s repurposing efforts. Hartnell’s ability to learn new skills as a show horse was noted by Sharlee Patterson, to who Fleming has entrusted the training. Both recognised that Hartnell possessed the good looks and the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills suited to equestrian sport. “He’d been racing and doing the same thing for so long, and he was set in his ways, but he’s adapted to a new lifestyle pretty easily and quickly,” Patterson says. “It definitely helps that he’s such a well-mannered horse. He likes to do well, he loves a challenge, and he keeps stepping up. We’re on the same wavelength”. Show horses are judged on their presentation and how they respond to the riders touch, their consistent pacing and elegant movement. Fleming, and those who work with racehorses, are driven by their love of animals. It is a large motivational factor when required to wake at 3.00 am to work with their horses. Horses that are rehomed are loved, love what they’re doing and go on to live purposeful lives. The Moonee Valley Racing Club has high hopes for Hartnell. We will enjoy watching him progress in his new career with interest, just as we enjoyed watching his extraordinary deeds on the racetrack. HARTNELL STILL MAKING AN IMPACT AFTER RACING Hartnell getting ready to compete in his first Off-Track appearance.