February 16, 2013: Luke Nolen rides Black Caviar to her 23rd consecutive win. Photo: Scott Barbour
Black Caviar may well be the best of all time, although different styles, training methods and even the way horses are fed and treated make it difficult to compare her with champions of different eras.
Fans of the turf greats - Phar Lap, Carbine, Bernborough, Tulloch, Kingston Town and Makybe Diva - will mount arguments to suggest that their favourites should be considered the best.
But those greats were stayers or middle-distance gallopers. Black Caviar is a sprinter, pure and simple, best between 1000 metres and 1200 metres.
September 5, 2009: Luke Nolen riding Black Caviar wins the Danehill Stakes. Photo: Mark Dadswell
And she certainly can be looked at as the best sprinter Australia has ever produced. She might well have been able to win over 1600 metres had she been asked to go that far.
But she hasn't been. The longest distance she has raced is 1400 metres, when she took out the Orr Stakes from a collection of stayers and second-graders. She did what she had to.
With 23 wins from 23 starts, her record is incomparable. Black Caviar has won in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, going right-handed and left-handed. She has dominated down the straight course at Flemington.
November 6, 2010: Ben Melham wins the Patinack Farm Classic on Black Caviar. Photo: Pat Scala PDS
And she has triumphed over adversity - a long journey and injury - to emulate some of the country's previous heroes and win at group 1 level at Royal Ascot, English racing's showcase meeting.
Some of her greatest triumphs have come interstate - her battle with Hay List in the 2011 T.J. Smith springs to mind - but first and foremost she will be remembered as a Victorian horse.
March 12, 2011: Black Caviar after winning the Newmarket Handicap. Photo: Vince Caligiuri
■ September 5, 2009: Danehill Stakes, group 2, 1200 metres, Flemington.
1. Black Caviar (Luke Nolen) $1.45; 2. Wanted $31; 3. Rarefied $10.
Black Caviar missed the start and injured her back in what was her fourth start and her first at group level. She had looked impressive in winning two-year-old races and at listed company, but this was her first major test. She went on to beat subsequent Newmarket Handicap winner Wanted and confirmed her trainer's assertion that she was something well out of the ordinary.
February 18, 2012: Luke Nolen rides Black Caviar to win the Lightning Stakes. Photo: Vince Caligiuri
■ November 6, 2010: Patinack Farm Classic, group 1, 1200 metres, Flemington.
1. Black Caviar (Ben Melham) $1.90; 2. Star Witness $7; 3. Ortensia $26.
By now everyone knew Black Caviar was a superstar, but she still hadn't won at group 1 level. She did so in style here, scoring by an easy four lengths in the hands of Ben Melham because regular rider Luke Nolen was out suspended. She beat home a dual group 1 winner in Star Witness, who went on to finish among the placings twice at Royal Ascot seven months later, and Ortensia, who subsequently won big sprints in Dubai and England.
■ March 12, 2011: Newmarket Handicap, group 1, 1200 metres, Flemington.
1. Black Caviar (Luke Nolen) $1.18; 2. Crystal Lily $71; 3. Beaded $21.
Shouldering 58 kilograms, a weight-carrying record for a mare in Australia's most famous sprint, Black Caviar toyed with her rivals, scoring by three lengths at odds so short they are unlikely to be repeated in such a competitive handicap for a long time. She beat home a Golden Slipper winner (Crystal Lily) and one of the toughest and most consistent sprinting mares of recent seasons (Beaded). Star Witness was back in the ruck.
■ February 18, 2012: Lightning Stakes, group 1, 1000 metres, Flemington
1. Black Caviar (Luke Nolen) $1.10; 2. Hay List $12; 3. Buffering $71.
Black Caviar was backing up within a week, having been asked to stretch her stamina to 1400 metres at Caulfield the previous Saturday in the Orr Stakes. Now she was being asked to take on the fastest sprinters in the land. She waged a great battle with her old adversary Hay List before going away to win by 1¾ lengths, in the process breaking 10 seconds for one 200-metre sectional.
■ February 16, 2013: Lightning Stakes, group 1, 1000 metres, Flemington.
1. Black Caviar (Luke Nolen) $1.10; 2. Moment Of Change $21; 3. Golden Archer $41
Significant because it showed that, after an absence of almost eight months, the golden girl of Australian racing was back bigger and better than ever. She sauntered home from her two stablemates, and in doing so smashed the 25-year-old track record set by Special in 1988, running 55.42 seconds for the 1000-metre dash. What better way to mark a major race named after yourself.
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