If you are or even if you are not, you should watch this video of a race horse from Australia named Black Caviar. She is a 4 year old mare and has captured the hearts of racing fanatics and the general public.
She was a $210,000 purchase in 2008 from the Inglis Premier Yearling Sales, bought by leading trainer Peter Moody.
She has already amassed $2,299,250 dollars in prize money. Her first race start way back on the 18th of April 2009 over 1000mtrs at Flemington, she showed she was going to be a star in the making and she is.
She is rated as the best sprinter in the world and nothing would come close to her, some trainers have not nominated in races against her as they know she is unbeatable.
One trainer John McNair thought his horse, Hay List a bloody good sprinter in his own right was the real deal to challenge Black Caviar but on the 19th of February 2011 at Flemington Race Course in Victoria Australia she blew him and the opposition away again. He then admitted that no horse was near her calibre.
Today being Saturday the 12th of March 2011 she ran in the group 1 Newmarket Handicap a very prestigious race. She was the top weight carrying 58 kilogrammes and looking at her tenth win in a row. No horse has done this on Australian soil.
You have to go way back to 1880 for the first horse to win 9 races in a row, and they were big races as one was the 1880 Melbourne Cup. The horse was called Grand Flaneur and was retired to stud after his ninth win. He made career earnings of £8,174, but his owner a small fortune backing him.
Other horses have also won 9 races straight, being Mollison, Eye Liner and also Rancher. Another great horse called Sunline won 8 in a row. She was also an amazing mare. Her racing career started with 8 straight wins, a second and then 3 more wins. Not a bad record of 12 starts for 11 wins and a second.
Back to Black Caviar. Today she took on the best that would start over ¾ of a mile or 1200mtrs down the straight at Flemington. But she had history against her as no mare had carried in modern times such a heavy weight. Black Caviar, under the impost of 58kg, only a few mares have done this, 56.5kg carried by Maybe Mahal in 1978 and Shaftesbury Avenue (58kg in 1991) is the only other winner in the past 50 years to carry that weight or more in listed or group company.
Well as they say, records are made to be broken and today they were. She won The Newmarket, and she did it in style. She had fuel in the tank at the end of the race and made her rivals look second class.
She is now the only horse on Australian soil to win 10 metropolitan races in a row. She ran a time of 1-7.36 seconds just outside the record set by Iglesia back on January 1st 2001 in a time of 1-7.16 seconds in the Group 3 Standish. Iglesia was absolutely smashed in the betting that day coming in from $11 to $3.50 favourite.
Black Caviar stalked the leader and moved up to the lead at the 400mtrs mark. The jockey Luke Nolan gave her a shake up just after the 300mtr mark and by the 200mtr mark it was a 2 & a ½ length gap. Nolen gave her two cuts of the whip 120mtrs out but she was already 4 & ½ lengths in front. Nolen eases her down about 80mtrs out and you can hear the crowd going wild.
If you have a chance to see her run, being a race horse fan or not. Go and watch her in person as you will not see another horse like her for our lifetime and probably our children’s as well.
I am happy to say that I had shivers and even tears watching her win today. Call me what you like; I am sure many others who enjoy the sport of kings did so too.
On a day when the world news was so bleak, the tidal wave and earth quake that has killed so many and wiped out many of parts of Japan, it was a welcome distraction.
My heart goes out to all the familles who have lost loved ones and can only sit and watch horrified of the video and pictures of the destruction.
Brunty
1 comments:
Wow, it's like the jockey found the NOS button, just at the right moment!
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