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We love to give sporting champions from the animal world human characteristics. We assign them courage, class and determination. In some cases the reverse is true – how many athletes have had a heart as big as Phar Lap?
So, in a reflective mood this week, while discussing the best sporting moments of 2012, it was interesting to hear a friend of mine say that an animal couldn’t take top billing.
That led to a detailed discussion about the efforts of champion mare Black Caviar.
How could she not be a contender? Her appearances transcended sport.
Horse racing, for most of the year, is the domain of those who flick straight to the form guide, but Black Caviar became a news story.
Her appearances took days at the track that had previously held huge interest for the minority and turned them into events for the majority.
She even moved the start time of an AFL game! They wouldn’t shift for FIFA, but the biggest football code in Australia bowed to the brilliance of Black Caviar.
The crowning glory came at Royal Ascot in England where she took out the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
The queen of the turf just got home to remain undefeated, but only after a quick and frantic re-ignition sequence was carried out on her cooling engines by jockey Luke Nolen.
She might’ve been almost embarrassed and had muscles that were screaming for relief, but despite the slim margin of victory it was still mission complete for Peter Moody’s mare.
Ah, Luke Nolen. The man who was widely maligned for the ride that almost brought the streak to an end.
Few would realise that Black Caviar was at breaking point and he was trying incredibly hard to avoid becoming the man who was on her back when she broke down.
Clearly not agreeing on the merit of human versus animal, we moved on to where Nolen sits in this year’s conversation.
It will be interesting to see if anyone gives him credit when discussing the highs and lows of the last 12 months.
We’ll marvel at the dramatic ending to Sally Pearson’s 100 metre hurdles race at the London Olympics or the tense final chapter between Anna Meares and Victoria Pendleton at the velodrome, but what about Nolen?
Did he just sit on the back of one of the greatest race horses the world has ever seen or did he play a significant part in the success story?
Nolen has been on Black Caviar’s back for 19 of her remarkable 22 consecutive wins, but would she have won with any old hoop on board?
In the yearly sporting reviews the mare will get due recognition alongside Pearson and Meares, but Nolen could be the forgotten part of the story.
That shouldn’t be the case though.
Anyone who has seen what a jockey goes through to compete will realise the sport takes a remarkable toll on their body.
Black Caviar was the reward for the effort.
That was just about the only point we did agree on.
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