Contributer, Hartnell In Godolphin G1 Bid

The presence of English jockey James Doyle on a horse having its first Australian start will ensure Godolphin provides the intrigue as well as the favourite for the Chipping Norton Stakes.

Doyle's booking for Hartnell signals a new direction for Godolphin as it calls on its European-based jockeys for rides in Australia.

It also means there's unlikely to be two more contrasting pieces of the Chipping Norton Stakes puzzle than the ones belonging to the global stable.

In Contributer, Godolphin trainer John O'Shea has a horse which has been well received in Australia with two wins from three starts since landing here during last year's spring carnival.

And in the horse's jockey James McDonald, O'Shea has the inside running for the services of one of the best riding talents in the country.

It's why one half of Godolphin's bid for its first Australian Group One win since the 2008 Caulfield Cup is considered a safe bet in the weight-for-age race at Warwick Farm on Saturday.

The other half can't claim anywhere near the same amount of familiarity with Australian racegoers.

Hartnell is resuming after finishing unplaced in the English St Leger in September and Doyle will be riding for the first time in Australia.

Rated a future star of the saddle, 26-year-old Doyle is new to the Godolphin outfit after accepting a retainer from Sheikh Mohammed to switch stables at the end of the 2014 English flat season.

He flies in from Dubai for three Warwick Farm rides in winning form, claiming the UAE Oaks for his boss and trainer Saeed bin Suroor on Meydan on Thursday night.

Doyle was in the running to ride at Caulfield but the stable thought he would be better placed in Sydney.

"He could have ridden in the Blue Diamond (but) John felt he would get more experience up with him in Sydney," Sheikh Mohammed's bloodstock adviser John Ferguson said.

"He will also ride in a few barrier trials next week."

Hartnell and Contributer shared the same flight from England yet they have taken different paths to a Chipping Norton clash.

Contributer is favourite to add the first Group One race of the Sydney autumn carnival to a Caulfield win and a first-up success in the Apollo Stakes.

Hartnell makes his southern hemisphere debut as a Group Three and Royal Ascot winner in England as well as a Group One placegetter in France as a two-year-old.

JAMES DOYLE A STAR ON THE RISE

* Won 2012 Dubai Duty Free Stakes for first Group One success

* Rode Al Kazeem to win Eclipse Stakes, Prince of Wales's Stakes and Tattersall's Gold Cup

* Partnered Kingman to wins in St James's Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Irish 2000 Guineas

* Signed on as retained Godolphin jockey in November