- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
For the first time in a while, Black Caviar found herself in a real race. And at the end she looked a little tired. She actually looked mortal.
Black Caviar came to Randwick, bringing a sell-out crowd of 23,188 people with her. And she won – that’s what Black Caviar does.
But not since her courageous victory at Royal Ascot have I learnt as much about Black Caviar as I did on Saturday.
The 2013 TJ Smith (1200m, Group 1, weight-for-age) was a fair-dinkum horse race. This was a heavyweight fight – Black Caviar and Luke Nolen in one corner and ten combatants in the other.
Individually the ten combatants had no chance of victory but if they fought together they knew there was some hope. So the blowtorch was put to Black Caviar.
In a hot first 600m, Rain Affair, with Corey Brown aboard, carved out a slick 33.59s on a rain-affected track.
It left the entire field – including Black Caviar – vulnerable, if not weary, late. The final 600m was completed in 36.09s, the slowest of all the Australian races Black Caviar has contested. The times may’ve been hampered by a damp track but this was six furlongs of attrition.
I’ve believed for a long time the best time to assess a horse is in a fast-run race. The form is more genuine; the cream rises to the top; and the results tend to stand up.
If that’s the case, we must conclude Black Caviar is at least three lengths better than the next best sprinters in Australia.
The TJ Smith line-up was complete – there was no big-name horse missing; every Australian sprinter capable of taking it to Black Caviar was present.
Yet only the late-closing, Epaulette, lightly-weighted under weight-for-age conditions, was even marginally close at the death.
For two and a half seasons now, Black Caviar has been the best sprinter in the world. It’s been a long stint at the top, especially for a mare.
But the most telling conclusion I made after the TJ Smith was this: If Black Caviar is to face a serious challenge, where defeat is a possibility, she needs to step up to 1400m.
But, if she does (and I don’t she think will) I could envisage Pierro or All Too Hard beating her.
Legends have to be assessed harshly – it’s only the standard they deserve. And if I’m being harsh, I think Black Caviar – a legend in her own right – would be in serious danger of defeat if she met Pierro or All Too Hard in a 1400m race led by Rain Affair, or any other horse, in a sub 34-second first 600m section.
But there is no shame in this. For the record, Pierro and All Too Hard would also be in serious danger of defeat if they met Black Caviar in a fast-run 1400m race.
And, more obviously, Black Caviar would be moving out of her distance range (1000-1200m) to race Pierro and All Too Hard at their pet range (1400-1600m).
Broadly-speaking, there’s two types of throughbreds in Australian racing – sprinters and everyone else.
To categorise – the latter can win at almost any distance if they good enough and trained for it. The former, on the other hand, can only win at shorter trips.
You can train speed into a stayer but it’s almost impossible to train stamina into a sprinter.
Lee Freedman’s Mahogany won two Derbies (2500m and 2400m respectively) at three. As a four-year old, he won the 1995 Lightning (1000m) before finishing a nose second in the Cox Plate (2040m) of the same year.
Freedman also trained Makybe Diva through the latter part of her career. After she was retired following her third Melbourne Cup (3200m), he told the media that given the chance, he would’ve aimed her at the following autumn’s Newmarket Handicap (1200m).
Makybe Diva is perhaps Australia’s most celebrated post-war stayer. She won at distances ranging 1400-3200m.
Of Australia’s most celebrated sprinters – Vain, Luskin Star, Manikato and Black Caviar – only Manikato won at a distance longer than a mile. He did it only once – over 1800m.
Those, including me, who at various points have called on Black Caviar to step up to a mile were probably asking for too much. Those wanting the mare to run in a Cox Plate or Melbourne Cup (3200m) – crazy.
And that’s probably why Black Caviar’s legacy is one going to be one of the strangest in history.
Over almost everyone else Black Caviar has an undefeated record but so many other champions ran over all sorts of distances.
On what we’ve seen of Black Caviar she deserves to stand alongside the absolute top echelon of Australian racing history.
But Black Caviar’s CV pales in comparison to that of Carbine, Phar Lap, Tulloch and even Kingston Town (whom she surpassed on Saturday for Group 1 wins) – who won at all distances; in all conditions; against all-comers.
And that’s because Black Caviar is a sprinter – aimed at the handful of suitable races each season and, by extension, kept to racing the same group of horses most of the time.
Black Caviar’s biggest weapon – her speed – is her biggest limiter.
I may go to the races for another 60 or 70 years and never watch a horse as good as Black Caviar again – I can’t pay a nicer complement.
But, as far as I’m concerned, the greatest sprinter can’t be the greatest horse.
Have you ever tried your skills in a Racing daily fantasy competition? Put your best picks to the test for one day and see if you can scoop the pot with Draftstars. Looking for great odds on racing and sport? PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.