Caviar To Savour

It’s here – perhaps the most widely anticipated Saturday of Royal Ascot ever. Black Caviar, the highest-rated filly in the world, behind only Frankel on ratings, runs in the Group 1 6f Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the third race on today’s card.

It is going to be such a treat to see the great filly run as she aims to make it an amazing 22 wins from 22 starts and there is no reason at all to think that the speed she has produced to such devastating effect in Australia cannot be reproduced here.

With 1,000s of Australian supporters expected to be here to cheer her home, the atmosphere will be electric in the run-up to the race.

Opposition? Well, they are hard to find, but Krypton Factor produced a Group 1 win in Dubai in the spring, proving that he has true international-class ability. He had valid excuses for defeat last time in Singapore and looks a nice price, albeit that his recent form has been on a tapeta surface.

The French-trained Moonlight Cloud would have finished second to Deacon Blues in the Champions Sprint Stakes here at the Champions meeting last October but for trouble in running. Owned by yesterday’s winning owner George Strawbridge, she put in an impressive performance at the beginning of the month on her seasonal debut when winning the Prix du Palais-Royal (G3) over 7f.

Last year’s winner Society Rock is back again after a fitting outing at York over 6f. He always goes well at Ascot, but looks outclassed here today

So what’s the bet? A one-two for the fillies to lead home the boys.

21 Facts About The Aussie Sensation, Black Caviar

Black Caviar is the extraordinary Australian mare who has won all 21 races that she has contested, setting a new modern-day international record for the top level of Flat racing.

Here are 21 facts about her, one for each of her victories:

1. She is the greatest sprinter in the world and the second highest-rated horse on the planet behind the British-trained miler, Frankel. Both horses are set to race in QIPCO British Champions Series races during Royal Ascot, with Frankel targeting the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile on the first day, Tuesday 19 June, and Black Caviar the Diamond Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs on the final day, Saturday 23 June. Black Caviar is then expected to contest the Darley July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday 14 July.

2. The undisputed queen of the turf collected her 20th straight victory in the Sportingbet Classic at Morphetville on 28 April 2012, beating the previous Australasian record of 19 straight wins set by both Desert Gold (1915-1917) and Gloaming (1919-1921) almost 100 years ago.

3. That 20th victory also broke the modern day international record for the top level of thoroughbred racing set by the brilliant USA-trained mare, Zenyatta, who scored 19 consecutive wins before tasting defeat in her 20th and final start. Black Caviar subsequently made it 21 out of 21 in the Distinctive Homes Goodwood at Morphetville on 12 May.

4. Her fastest 200m (one furlong) split is 9.98sec between the 600m & 400m in the 2012 Lightning Stakes (her 19th win). She’s the first horse in Australia to break 10secs for a furlong in an official thoroughbred race, giving her a top speed of 72.14km/h or 45.09mph.

5. Eleven of her 21 victories have been in Group 1 races, the highest class of thoroughbred race, and she has won over five furlongs (1,000 metres) five times, six furlongs (1,200 metres) 15 times and seven furlongs (1,400 metres) once. However, she has never run outside Australia before, so testing herself against the best in Europe on her next start at Royal Ascot is a very brave step to take for her connections and will secure her international superstar status forever if she is successful.

6. Black Caviar cost 210,000 Australian dollars (about £132,000 at today’s rates) and she has now won over £3.6 million in prize money with a potentially very lucrative breeding career ahead of her once she retires. To illustrate this, her half-sister (by the sire Redoute’s Choice) just sold for 2.6 million Australian dollars (£1.64m) at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale – a record price for a yearling filly in Australia.

7. She has won her 21 races by a combined total of exactly 70 lengths – about 560 feet or 170 metres, or the equivalent of about 13 London buses!

8. She has started odds-on favourite in the betting on every occasion except her first ever race on 18 April 2009 at Flemington in Melbourne. The shortest price she started at was 1/33 meaning that if you had put £33 on her to win, your return would have been just £34! The local totalisator has taken numerous $100,000+ bets on her, the biggest being $200,000 at $1.04 when she won the Sportingbet Classic to record her 20th win – the punter’s profit was just $8,000. She is currently available with British bookmakers at 4/9 for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and a huge number of Australians are expected to back her.

9. She is trained by Peter Moody at his stable at Caulfield racecourse in Victoria, Australia.

10. Luke Nolen has been her jockey in 18 of her 21 races, missing only her first two starts (when she was ridden by 16-year-old apprentice Jarrad Noske) and her first Group 1 victory in the Patinack Farm Classic in November 2010 (when Ben Melham was in the saddle as Nolen was suspended).

11. Black Caviar is owned by a group of life-long friends, Colin and Jannene Madden, Gary and Kerryn Wilkie and Neil Werrett, several of whom go right back to nursery school. They came up with the idea of buying a racehorse when enjoying their annual holiday together on a houseboat on the Murray river, not far from Adelaide. Neil Werrett knew Peter Moody, who, as it happens, had just come back from the sales with a big black yearling filly. They agreed to buy her, adding two others to their syndicate to spread the costs – Jannene Madden’s sister, Pam Hawkes, and another friend, David Taylor.

12. The wife of part-owner, David Taylor, was dead against her husband buying a share of the horse, so he had to do it behind her back – a brave move that paid off big-time and all is forgiven now!

13. Aussie Rules football star, Dale Thomas, who plays for top AFL team Collingwood, had a bet with David Taylor that Black Caviar wouldn’t win 20 consecutive races. Thomas has now fulfilled the terms of the bet by having an image of Black Caviar tattoed on his backside!

14. It was part-owner Pam Hawkes who came up with the Black Caviar’s name. The seafood lover explained: “Black Caviar’s grandmother was called Scandanavia. Helsinge, the name of her mother, is in Scandanavia and that’s where the salmon live. It made sense.” She added: “Besides my husband and children, Black Caviar is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It is a dream come true to have this beautiful horse.”

15. It was Gary and Kerryn Wilkie’s daughter who came up with the jockey’s very appropriate colours – salmon pink with black dots to represent the caviar! Gary said about Black Caviar: “You can’t imagine it. It’s a little surreal. You see the way she affects people, this animal we have equity in, and you just think, ‘How lucky am I’?”

16. When Black Caviar is running, racedays become something of a logistics challenge. The owners, their families and extended friends regularly push the number of attendees up to over 60, but that’s nothing compared with the party that will be at Royal Ascot on 23 June when she is due to contest her next race, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.  It will number over 150 people!

17. Black Caviar, who was bottle fed as a foal, was born on 18 August 2006 – her sire (father) is Bel Esprit and her dam (mother) Helsinge. She is known in her stable as Nelly.

18. Her height is 16.2 hands (5 foot 4.8 inches or 164.6 centimetres).

19.  She loves swimming and going to the beach.

20. She has a massive fan base in Australia, where she is revered as the greatest racehorse since the legendary Phar Lap died 80 years ago, and her own range of merchandise, from T shirts and baseball caps to ties and key rings. One of her fans made a 30+ hour round trip from Chicago to see her record her 18th victory at Caulfield, staying in Australia for only 24 hours, while thousands of Australians are expected to go racing when she runs in the UK.

21. After her British foray, she will return to Australia to be prepared for the all-important Spring Carnival in Melbourne, where her legions of fans will be looking forward to welcoming “The Wonder from Down Under” back to Australian racing.

Destiny Fulfilled with Royal Winner

The hopes of every single racegoer at Royal Ascot came true today with Estimate’s success in the Queen’s Vase for Her Majesty the Queen, giving her victory at the meeting in her Diamond Jubilee year.

The likelihood of a Royal winner had looked to be dwindling as Carlton House was second on Wednesday in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, and then Momentary was well beaten in the Ribblesdale Stakes yesterday, but Estimate and jockey Ryan Moore were not to be denied and ensured that destiny was fulfilled. Moore kicked the filly off the bend and she galloped to a 5l success.

Every available space in the stands was taken as racegoers rushed from racecourse side to paddock side to see the Queen greet her returning heroine. The cheers rang out as she patted her filly, and then again when the Duke Of Edinburgh gave the winning owner her prize. Today was the first time he has handed over a trophy to his wife at her meeting.

“We always thought the filly would get the trip,” said winning trainer Sir Michael Stoute. “It’s a nice position to have horses for Her Majesty running in races such as this with a chance, particularly in a Jubilee year.

“The Queen deserves the success, she contributes so much to racing, and I’m sure the whole country will have appreciated the victory. And for me it’s a great honour.”


The Queen’s beaming smile on the winner’s podium said it all as she enjoyed her 21st success at Royal Ascot as an owner and her first since 2008.

Three-timer for Gosden and Buick

It has also been a day of days for trainer John Gosden and jockey William Buick, who enjoyed the small matter of winning three races: the opening Albany Stakes with Newfangled, the Group 1 Coronation Stakes with Fallen For You and the Listed Wolferton Stakes, courtesy of Gatewood.

All three were for owner-breeder concerns: Fallen For You is owned by Philipa Cooper’s Normandie Stud, while George Strawbridge is the US-based owner of Gatewood. Newfangled, although in Princess Haya’s ownership, was bred by her husband Shiekh Mohammed’s Darley Stud.

The non-Gosden trained winner of the second race, the King Edward VII Stakes (G2), was Thomas Chippendale, trained by Sir Henry Cecil, who also got the one-two in the race. Sir Robert Ogden, who has put so much into horseracing ownership, owns the colt.

Buick said after his third success: “I knew I had some good rides, but then so do a lot of jockey here. To have one winner is amazing, but to have three, well it’s the stuff of dreams. The horses are here in top order, and it is down to the hard work everyone puts in at home.”


Strawbridge, who was enjoying his first Royal Ascot success, laughed: “Breeding racehorse is a little like chicken and feathers – most of the time you end up with feathers.”


Newfangled, a daughter of first-season sire New Approach, took herself to the top of the ante-post betting for next season’s 1,000 Guineas after her impressive victory in the Albany Stakes.

It was Dettori’s Day

After the recent press speculation that Frankie Dettori was losing his position as number one jockey for Godolphin, and was also considering retirement from race riding, the jockey put those rumours to bed in no uncertain fashion by winning the Ascot Gold Cup aboard Colour Vision.

To make matters even more satisfying he beat his Godolphin riding rival Mickael Barzalona, who was aboard the Godolphin-trained Opinion Poll, though a stewards’ enquiry was required to confirm the result. Frankie's winning leap in the Parade Ring was sky high.

“Sheikh Mohammed gave Frankie the choice of rides and he picked Colour Vision feeling he would stay better,” said Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin. “He was proved right today.”

It was the second year in a row that Opinion Poll has finished second in the Ascot Gold Cup – his conqueror last year was Fame And Glory, who was sent off the 4/5 favourite for a repeat success.

“He has come back fine and seems fine after the race. It was an interesting race,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien.

“It was just not to be,” said jockey Jamie Spencer.

Following in Mum’s Footsteps

Whatever mum Irresistible Jewel did ten years ago, daughter Princess Highway can match, the Dermot Weld-trained filly picking up the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) in fine style today. She has to be considered the best three-year-old filly over middle-distance this year – she has already beaten the Oaks winner and today came home ahead of the Oaks runner-up and third.

“She is a proper filly,” said Weld. “That race [she won in Ireland] is named after Blue Wind, who was very special and the best filly I’d trained before this one, but I’m hoping Princess Highway could be even better. They went a good pace and Pat [Smullen] rightfully took his time and rode a good race as always. We need stars like Frankel and Black Caviar and maybe we’ve seen a future star here.”

Trainer Clive Cox picked up his third Royal Ascot winner courtesy of Reckless Abandon’s Norfolk Stakes success. Cox is another trainer hopeful that he has a future star on his hands.

“I’m sure he’ll get 6f in time, but he’s got so much speed that we wanted to stick at five for the moment. We’ll take it a step at a time, but so far it’s all working out as planned,” he said.
Planning also reaped rewards for German connections, who enjoyed a great success in the Tercentenary Stakes with Energizer. Application of a hood has helped the colt settle better in his races and has allowed connections to step him up from a mile to the 1m2f trip of this Group 3.

“I was hopefully beforehand, especially when I saw him relaxed in the paddock beforehand,” said winning jockey Adrie de Vries. “The horses are struggling in the final furlong because of the testing ground, but it helped me I think as he likes soft ground.”

William Haggas is hoping that the buyers from Hong Kong don’t come shopping for his colt Fast Or Free after winning the mile Britannia Handicap.

“We were lucky to get in off a mark of 98, but you need luck in these races – now I hope the agents from Hong Kong don’t come knocking and take him off me!” he smiled.

Frankel Hits an Official Mark Of 140

Following his breathtaking, 11 length Queen Anne Stakes victory at Royal Ascot on Tuesday, Frankel's official rating has risen by two pounds to 140.

It makes him officially the best since another Prince Khalid Abdulla-owned horse, Dancing Brave, in 1986 who ended his career with a rating of 141.

Apart from his own 138 in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury last month, Frankel's 140 puts him a massive 16 pounds clear of the next best performances in the 2012 QIPCO British Champions Series - the Epsom victories of Camelot in the Investec Derby and St Nicholas Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup (sponsored by Investec) and So You Think's Prince of Wales's Stakes triumph at Royal Ascot yesterday.

All three Aidan O'Brien-trained horses earned a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) performance rating of 124 to share top ranking in the Middle Distance division.

Excelebration's 125 when beaten five lengths in the JLT Lockinge Stakes keeps him in second place to Frankel in both the Mile division and the overall Series rankings, though he ran well below his best when finishing more than twice as far behind Frankel on Tuesday, for which he was rated just 115. The Queen Anne third, Side Glance, was rated 114.

Most Improved was awarded a rating of 116 following his St James's Palace Stakes triumph. In the light of that race, the ratings for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas have been dropped by two pounds with Hermival, third at Newmarket and second at Ascot, receiving the same 114 rating for both performances. Gregorian, who was a head back in third in the St James's Palace, was also rated 114.

Camelot's Guineas win drops to 119 and runner-up French Fifteen goes down to 118, but still well above Most Improved.

Hong Kong raider, Little Bridge now tops the Sprint division on a rating of 120 following his fine King's Stand Stakes victory at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

The King's Stand runner-up, Bated Breath, took a step forward for the season to 118 after recording 116 in the first sprint of the Series, the betfred.com Temple Stakes at Haydock Park. Sole Power ran second to Bated Breath that day and was third in the King's Stand, with both performances rated 115.

So You Think's 124 in yesterday's Prince of Wales's Stakes was a pound below his current official mark of 125.

The runner-up Carlton House, posted 119 - the same mark as he ended last season - while the unlucky third, Farhh, posted a career best 118 and must have the potential to go higher as the season progresses.

Dominic Gardiner-Hill, the BHA's mile handicapper, said: "Frankel's win in the Queen Anne was one of the most visually stunning I have seen in my time as a handicapper and I'm sure was a superior performance to his win in the Lockinge and therefore his rating will rise to 140.

"In the modern era, Dancing Brave is the highest rated horse we have had on 141 and I wouldn't want to put Frankel above him on what he achieved on Tuesday.

"If you look at the quality of the field that Dancing Brave beat in the 1986 Arc, it was chock-full of Group One winners and although Frankel finished a long way clear, beating Side Glance, Indomito and Windsor Palace (Group Two and Three horses at best) does not entitle him to be considered the superior horse at this stage in my opinion."

Rod Street, Chief Executive of the British Champions Series, said: "Frankel has led the way in the QIPCO British Champions Series at every stage, ever since the very first race last year when he blitzed his rivals in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas.

"It looks like he has three Series races left in his career to try to achieve the highest official rating ever, the Coral-Eclipse or the QIPCO Sussex Stakes, followed by the Juddmonte International and then either the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes or the QIPCO Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day.

"We have to enjoy him while we can as we will surely never see another like him, but now our attention turns to the world's second best horse, Aussie superstar Black Caviar.

"Can she put up as visually stunning a performance as Frankel in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee? A sensational end to the week may await!"