Consistent three-year-old Rising Red is out to break the hoodoo of his age group in the 2017 Ranvet Stakes results on Saturday chasing an upset win over the short-priced favourite Hartnell.

The $700,000 Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) is one of five elite level Golden Slipper Day races on the agenda for Rosehill Gardens Racecourse this weekend in Sydney.

The race looks to be the John O’Shea-trained Hartnell’s for the taking, the always honest weight-for-age performer finally getting a Winx free run this campaign.

Godolphin’s multiple Group 1 winning import hasn’t been first past the post since beating subsequent Caulfield Cup winner Jameka at Flemington last October in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m).

Three of his four runs since have seen him beaten by Winx, the exception being the brave third to Almandin in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) last November.

Hartnell was last seen running a flat eighth to Chris Waller’s super star mare – who runs on Slipper Day in the 2017 George Ryder Stakes as the shortest-priced favourite in that race’s history – in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m).

The bookies believe up to 2000m without Winx there to steal the show, Hartnell is the one to beat and he sits top of all-in Ranvet Stakes betting at $1.85 through Ladbrokes.com.au.

Further down those pre-field Ranvet Stakes odds paying $16 for an upset is the Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young-trained Redwood gelding Rising Red.

The Kiwi-bred youngster has won two of his nine starts to date, enjoying a further five second place efforts including in the Group 1 NZ Derby (2400m) being Gingernuts on March 4 as a $17 shot.

That followed a 2100m Sandown-Lakeside success in late February and Saturday marks his debut Sydney run after his fast rise through the ranks that has surprised even co-trainer Busuttin.

“If I’d told you that I was going to run Rising Red in a New Zealand Derby and then a Ranvet three starts ago you would probably have locked me up,” Busuttin told G1X.com.au.

“But this horse is improving rapidly and I think there might be some queries over the better performed horses. I’ll make a call after he works in the morning but it might be the right race to have a crack at.”

The Ranvet Stakes shapes up as a tough assignment for not just Rising Red, but any three-year-old as none have won the race since Gold Guru (1998).

The New Zealand form has recently stacked-up however with the then Roger James-trained mare Silent Achiever coming off a New Zealand Stakes win at Ellerslie for her 2014 ATC Ranvet Stakes win as a $13 chance in betting.

There are a total of four three-year-olds among the fourteen Ranvet Stakes 2017 nominees including fellow $16 shot Impavido coming off a fourth in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) run on a Heavy (10) track a fortnight back.

There’s a high chance of another rain-affected track for Sydney racing on Saturday, but Rising Red has enough form in the wet to stop the course condition being a concern.

“I think he’ll swim through it,” Busuttin added.

Busuttin & Young are in top form having relished the return to form of their ATC Derby winner Tavago in last weekend’s Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m), the now four-year-old subsequently installed as favourite for the 2017 Sydney Cup.

To back your early Ranvet Stakes tips online at the right price before final acceptances close on Wednesday, head to Ladbrokes.com.au – the home of Odds Boost (T&Cs apply).