It is being spruiked as the Winx vs Hartnell showdown but will the Cox Plate 2016 turn out the way the markets and punters are predicting at Moonee Valley on Saturday?

Chris Waller’s reigning champion and eight-time winning mare Winx is the one the punters are coming for in droves for this year’s $3 million Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m).

The question is being asked: Will Winx Win the Cox Plate?

The superstar is certainly ticking all the right boxes including the cruisy Ladbrokes Stakes win last time out, her gun gate three draw and just her sheer class.

The other question everyone wants to know is whether Hartnell can beat Winx when he takes her on for the fourth time this weekend.

The public have backed Winx into $2 favouritism in the latest Cox Plate odds at Ladbrokes.com.au, but at $3.50 on the second line of betting the John O’Shea-trained import Hartnell is certainly a worthy competitor.

He comes off a three-straight winning streak including the dominant 3.25 romp home at Flemington in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) last time out.

The six-year-old is out to atone for finishing 10 lengths back from Winx for fifth in last year’s Cox Plate finishing order.

A ruined autumn followed due to a curbed hock, but this spring he has been back to peak form and in his last encounter with Winx first-up in Sydney he was second past the post in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m).

He has gone from strength to strength since and his Turnbull Stakes winning form was franked last weekend when the runner-up Jameka won the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).

Hartnell’s hoop James McDonald is going to be keeping an eye on Winx all through the run, but her jockey Hugh Bowman won’t be worried about any other runner but his mighty mare.

If McDonald gets into the right position though, Hartnell may just have enough motor to run down Winx in the closing stages.

So can Hartnell win the Cox Plate?

2016 Cox Plate Horse Form #3 Hartnell

Barrier: 7

Weight: 59kg

Jockey: James McDonald

Trainer: John O’Shea

Owner/s: Godolphin

Age: 6YO

Gender: Gelding

Breeding: by Authorized (IRE) from Debonnaire (GB)

Career: 26-10-5-1

Win: 38%

Place: 62%

Last 6: 5×2111

Prize Money: $2,233,999

Track: 1-0-0-0

Distance: 8-4-0-1

Current 2016 Cox Plate Odds: $3.50

Yes – Hartnell Can Beat Winx in the 2016 Cox Plate

• Barrier seven has produced three Cox Plate winners in the past 10 years with: Fields Of Omagh (2006), El Segundo (2007) and So You Think (2009)
• He is a Group 1 weight-for-age winner having taken out the 2015 The BMW (2400m) in Sydney
• His Turnbull Stakes win over the Cox Plate distance was ultra-impressive
• The two Turnbull Stakes runners to back-up in a Cox Plate since 2005 both won with Makybe Diva (2005) completing the double and El Segundo (2007) improving on his sixth
• Three of the past six Cox Plate champions came off a last start win
• He has won over $2.2 million in prize money
• The 2000m is his pet distance (8-4-0-1) and he is one of two four-time winners over the meters in the race along with #9 Lucia Valentina ($21)
• If McDonald makes the early move on Winx he has the fitness to outrace her late

No – Hartnell Won’t be the Cox Plate Winner

• James McDonald is yet to ride a Cox Plate winner
• John O’Shea is yet to train a Cox Plate winner
• Only two six-year-olds have won in the past decade
• In the past 40 years the Cox Plate winner only came off the Turnbull Stakes five times
• He has the fourth worst Place rate of the Cox Plate field
• His only run at Moonee Valley Racecourse was the fifth in last year’s Cox Plate
• O’Shea has all but conceded defeat to Winx at the Valley

Whether it is Winx, Hartnell or a smoky in the Cox Plate betting markets you’re looking to back this weekend make sure you’ve got access to Enhanced Odds only at Ladbrokes.com.au (T&Cs apply).