Black Caviar – Gr1 Lightning Stakes 2013
One of racing’s all time great careers ended last week when it was announced that Black Caviar had run her last race. Unbeaten in 25 starts, the daughter of Bel Esprit is approaching her seventh birthday, and connections decided it was time to call it a day wth the champion. Black Caviar achieved several notable milestones during her remarkable career.
She set a new modern day in Australia with her unbroken 25 winning streak a new record. Black Caviar retires as the all time leader in Australia by individual G1 wins – she scored 15 times at the highest level. She won eight G1 contests in a row. Black Caviar retired as the world’s highest rated sprinter, with the International Federation of Horse Racing giving the mare a hefty 130lb mark.
The champion won Australia’s prestigious Lightning Stakes for three straight years, placing her among an elite group of thoroughbreds to have captured a hatrick of wins in a G1 feature. Black Caviar also won the G1 TJ Smith twice, and the G1 Patinack Farm Classic twice. During her career, the mare beat 39 G1 winners.
However, despite having compiled such an impressive and complete CV, Black Caviar still has a number of critics who feel the mare never beat much on the race track. Despite the fact that Australian sprinters have consistently proven as good as any in the world, some critics have carped the mighty mare never beat an outstanding field. It is also worth commenting that unlike a number of top racemares who campaigned solely against their own sex, Black Caviar spent her career thrashing the best male rivals around.
A glance back at her wins prove that this was simply not true. During her 25 race career, Black Caviar defeated no fewer than 39 G1 winners. Here is a breakdown of who the “Wonder from Down Under” actually defeated in the 15 G1 races that she contested during her unforgettable career.
The first G1 race Black Caviar won was the 2010 Patinack Farm Classic. Four lengths back in second place on that occasion was Star Witness with Ortensia, another two and a quarter lengths away in third. Star Witness himself won the G1 Blue Diamond, and was beaten just half a length in one of Britain’s top sprint races, the King’s Stand Stakes. Third home Ortensia is a world class sprinter, who won one of Dubai’s top sprints (Al Quoz Sprint) and the UK’s (Nunthorpe Stakes). The remaining four horses in the seven horse line up were all multiple G1 winners!
She won the Lightning Stakes, for the first time out, next time out – when accounting for Hay List. Third home was Listed winner Warm Love, with fourth place going to 11 time winner Grand Duels. Further back in fifth was ill-fated G1 Golden Slipper heroine Crystal Lily (Stratum).
When Black Caviar won the Newmarket Handicap of 2011, not only did she beat six G1 winners – but gave plenty of weight away in the process. In the Newmarket, Black Caviar had to carry top weight, and gave 8kgs to runner up and Golden Slipper victress Crystal Lily!
Her first win in the G1 T J Smith Stakes came at the expense of another high-class field. Nine of the 11 horses in the field were previous G1 winners, and the fourth home, Alverta, had been defeated just a length in Britain’s top sprint race, the G1 July Cup.
One of Black Caviar’s most contentious victories came when she triumphed in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes. She put up a below par run, when scraping home by a head from French fillies Moonlight Cloud (Invincible Spirit) and Restiadargent (Kendargent).
That run can be looked at several ways. The champion clearly ran below her best when narrowly defeating runners who were rated 14 and 22 lbs inferior to Black Caviar. However, it is no small tribute to the greatness of Black Caviar that she can run below best, and still manage to win one of the world’s most prestigious sprint races. While the third home (a very smart 2yo who won a pair of pattern races in France) failed to frank the form, both runner up Moonlight Cloud (Prix Maurice de Gheest) and fifth Society Rock (Haydock Sprint Cup) have since won G1 contests.
One of the best yard sticks to the greatness which is Black Caviar was her rivalry with Hay List (Statue of Liberty). The pair met for the first time in the 2011 Coolmore Lightning Stakes. On that occasion, Black Caviar beat her hapless rival by over three lengths.
The pair would clash on four other occasions – but Hay List would never catch his rival. The closest the injury prone gelding came was when making Black Caviar fight for victory in the 2012 Lightning Stakes. Four times Hay List ran second to Black Caviar, and yet, he was an exceptional racehorse in his own right.
When the gelding won the $1 000 000 G1 Newmarket Handicap, he joined the greats by becoming one of just a handful of horses to capture this prestige sprint race while carrying top weight. To date the gelding has won 15 races, three at G1 level, and over $2 000 000 – stats of a truly talented individual.
Had Black Caviar not been around, Hay List would have won eight G1 races, and been hailed as a superstar himself. What ever the verdict is on Black Caviar, she will be remembered by her fans as the horse of a lifetime.
