Dubai Godolphin’s Australian handler John O’Shea believes that the performances of Hartnell and Contributer have stood out as the highlights of his first season with the all-powerful stable.

Hartnell, who enjoyed a promising season when previously trained by Mark Johnston in the UK, landed two big wins for O’Shea when successful in the Group 1 BMW Stakes and Group 3 Sky High Stakes at Rosehill in May.

Contributer won four of his five starts since joining the Sydney-based handler, including a pair of Group 1s - the Chipping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm in February and the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill in March.

Reflecting on his maiden spell with Godolphin, the stable created by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, O’Shea told the stables’ website: “We are in the last month of our racing season in Australia, and our priority is to continue building on the momentum we have developed as a team and to ensure that we finish the season as well as we can.

“Looking back there have been many highs for the team. Winning the G1 BMW Stakes with Hartnell was fantastic, and Contributer proved a real star, with his two Group One wins.

“We had 30 individual two-year-old winners throughout the season. This was very good as we didn’t start in a hurry.”

O’Shea has come a long way since saddling his first winner for Godolphin on August 6, 2014, when the Darley-bred Orujo captured a handicap at Sportingbet Park, in Sandown.

Since then he has notched 89 successes from 512 runners, including 16 Stakes winners. Contributer gave him his first Group 1 victory when landing the Chipping Norton Stakes.

While James McDonald is Godolphin’s contracted jockey in Australia, its principal stable jockeys James Doyle and William Buick, are known to fly Down Under to fulfil engagements.

“It was great to have both James Doyle and William Buick down here in Australia during the autumn,” O’Shea said. “It gave them the opportunity to become acquainted with the different rhythm and style of racing in Sydney and Melbourne, and they were great to have around.”

Commenting on his association with the stable that employs some of the best handlers in the world besides resident trainers Saeed Bin Surour and Charlie Appleby, O’Shea said: “It is a privilege to be part of the Godolphin team. You quickly become aware of just how international the whole operation really is, and just how much expertise is housed under the Godolphin umbrella.

“There has always been fantastic team support and this has helped enormously in maintaining the Godolphin strike rate throughout a very good season.|”

O’Shea, 45, was a former top schoolboy Rugby League player in Queensland. He began his career as a horse trainer in 1999, with just five horses, but had already amassed a wealth of experience in the game.