So often in racing a great horse is remembered for not only their best victories but for the manner in which they depart the racetrack.
The last races in a champion’s career are special because they are ones we are left with to remember that thoroughbred.
Think Makybe Diva in the 2005 Melbourne Cup, Lonhro in the 2004 Australian Cup, Super Impose in the 1992 Cox Plate or Kingston Town in the 1982 Western Mail Classic.
These are legendary races at the tail end of great horse’s careers.
And in the first half of 2013 the racing spotlight in Australia is firmly placed on Black Caviar.
The nation’s undefeated, champion mare is preparing for her farewell tour that will begin on February 16 at Flemington in the race named after her, the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m).
Black Caviar is only the fifth Australian horse to have a Group One race named in her honour. The other four are Kingston Town (Kingston Town Classic, Perth), Manikato (Manikato Stakes, Melbourne), Storm Queen (Storm Queen Stakes also known as the Vinery Stud Stakes, Sydney) and Flight (Flight Stakes, Sydney).
It’s an amazing feat for Black Caviar, probably for two reasons. The first of which is she hasn’t been retired yet and the second is legends like Phar Lap, Tulloch and Makybe Diva only have Group Two races named after them.
Has there ever been a better indication of how big a name Black Caviar is than the fact she will run in (and probably win) a race named in her honour?
Maybe the most fitting part about the Black Caviar Lightning is that it officially puts Black Caviar on a par with Manikato, who has the Group One Manikato Stakes run in his honour each spring.
The Man won a record 22 races that now enjoy Group One status. Manikato is best known for winning Moonee Valley’s William Reid Stakes five times and as a result his body is buried behind the grandstand at the Melbourne racetrack.
I wasn’t born when Manikato raced (between 1978 and 1983) but I’ve often enjoyed watching him on video. And, of all the champion sprinters I’ve seen live or on TV, I would have to say that Manikato’s style is probably most similar to Black Caviar’s.
At his peak, Manikato used a massive engine and high cruising speed to churn out dominant, powerful and soft victories.
I would argue that Black Caviar’s brilliance has allowed her to enjoy more effortless wins but Manikato’s legion of fans would point to the sustained speed and touch of stamina that took the Manihi gelding to victory from distances ranging 1000m to 1800m.
In the middle of his career, Manikato battled injury. His 1979 spring ended in September when he was galloped on in the Marlboro Cup at Caulfield. Six months later he bled from the nose – an ailment that carries a life ban in Australia if it happens twice.
And as a five-year old he only raced three times because of troublesome suspensory tendons. When Manikato returned to the track as a six-year old, he was wasn’t the same horse.
Black Caviar has been far from immune from injury either. The mare’s hulking stature has been the constant cause of problems throughout her career – most notably in the form back and muscle concerns.
Towards the end of her last campaign, especially in Adelaide and Royal Ascot, it appeared hard racing and a fragile frame may’ve started catching up with the mare.
So, when Peter Moody placed Black Caviar on the scales a few weeks ago, he must’ve been nervous when he realised the mare was 70kgs heavier than her usual racing weight.
Already so big and injury prone, Black Caviar can’t afford to be lugging more weight around the racetrack than necessary. And that’s why Moody has Black Caviar on a tough program in preparation for her return next month.
Last Tuesday at Sandown, Black Caviar had a jump-out where showed everyone that she hand’t forgotten how to run. Against a field of unknown quantities, the mare cantered to a soft victory.
And on Saturday she will make her first raceday appearance since June when she steps out for an exhibition gallop between races at Caulfield.
If you’ve ever seen an exhibition gallop before, you’d understand that it’s not a big deal. In intensity, it rates somewhere between morning trackwork and a barrier trial.
But nothing involving Black Caviar is small. So the Melbourne Racing Club (who conduct racing at Caulfield and Sandown) are treating this exhibition gallop as their farewell to the mare.
The MRC are expecting a crowd of 10,000 to show up to see Nellie (I’d imagine they’d get half as much if Black Caviar wasn’t there) and those who want to make it special can purchase dining packages where they can listen to speeches from a few of Caviar’s owners.
And this is where Black Caviar really is set apart from not only Manikato but any racehorse since Tulloch or even Phar Lap.
Exhibition gallops aren’t meant to present commercial opportunities.
But Black Caviar markets horse racing – she makes it important, she sells tickets, and she wins headlines.
The Black Caviar brand has taken racing further than any horse in this country has in at least 60 years. So when the farewell tour ends, you can bet like you’re betting on Black Caviar that racing’s going to miss her.
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