Hartnell Claims Spring WFA Championship Title

Despite an unplaced finish in Saturday’s A$1 million Group 1 Ladbrokes Caulfield Stakes (2000m), Hartnell (Authorized) has won the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Spring WFA Championship.

The Godolphin galloper went into Saturday’s fourth and final leg of the series with 18 points. The only other runner in the Caulfield Stakes field who was within striking distance on the table was the star New Zealand mare Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi) with 10. But despite being the two favourites for the weight-for-age race, the pair both finished outside the placings behind the impressive winner Gailo Chop (Deportivo).

Winner of the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) in 2015, Gailo Chop spent more than a year on the sidelines after suffering a tendon injury in Dubai in March 2016. Saturday was his fifth start back, and it ranked among his career-best performances.

Rider Mark Zahra sent Gailo Chop straight to the lead in the Caulfield Stakes and he dominated the race from the front. He kicked clear in the straight and fought off the late challeng of Johannes Vermeeer (Galileo) by a neck. This year’s Australian Derby winner Jon Snow (NZ) (Iffraaj), Bonneval’s stablemate, finished third.

Back markers Bonneval and Hartnell were unsuited to the tempo of the race and finished sixth and ninth respectively.

“It just looked like a race today that if he could get to the front he would be able to control it,” Gailo Chop’s trainer Darren Weir said. “He got some cheap sectionals down the back and then gave a good kick. He might not have wanted it to be much further but the winning post is there for a reason.”

Hartnell finished the Spring WFA Championship with 18 points, one ahead of last year’s champion Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars). Gailo Chop earned 10 points from Saturday’s win to move into third place on 16, while Bonneval collected one point to finish fourth on 11.