She has been described as Australia’s No. 1 racehorse for many, many months now but at a prestigious awards ceremony on Sunday night, Black Caviar was officially crowned Victorian Racehorse of the Year for 2010-11.
Black Caviar on Sunday was crowned the 2010-11 Victorian Racehorse of the Year
Peter Moody’s undefeated queen of the turf has racked up a flawless winning streak of 13 and has never been relegated to second on the track.
There was no beating the Bel Esprit mare to the title of Horse of the Year, either, Black Caviar reigning supreme over dual Cox Plate champion So You Think.
The Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Awards, presented by Tabcorp at Crown, saw not only Black Caviar but her trainer Moody and regular rider Luke Nolen scoop up a plethora of honours.
But it was the highly-spruiked contest between our sprint darling Black Caviar and the former Bart Cummings-trained middle distance superstar So You Think that stole centre stage.
With four Group 1 victories apiece for the 2010-11 racing season in Victoria, it was a thrillingly close showdown.
Black Caviar, however, was deemed the standout thoroughbred for the season by a collection of the state’s prominent racing journalists.
The ‘Black Beauty’ collected 150 votes, 16 clear of So You Think (134).
The two boom candidates held a substantial gap over their closest rivals and were followed by 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain (28) and Blue Diamond – Golden Slipper champion Sepoy (17).
Black Caviar handed her Queensland-bred now Victorian-based trainer Peter Moody with his second successive Horse of the Year after Typhoon Tracy claimed the honours 12 months ago.
Moody, 42, was brimming with pride and just the hint of a tear by the end of the night after he also scored his maiden Fred Hoysted Medal.
Recognised for his training efforts during the 2011 Melbourne Festival of Racing, Moody upstaged the likes of last year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Alain de Royer Dupre (49) and three-time Fred Hoysted medallist Bart Cummings (34) to take out the title of Victoria’s most outstanding horseman for the season.
Then there was Luke Nolen, 31, who thanks to his string of success aboard Black Caviar was presented with the Scobie Breasley Medal taking out the honours with 64 votes, Craig Newitt second with 45 votes.
It was double delight for Nolen who also was awarded the Mitchelton Wines Victoria Metropolitan Jockey Premiership trophy for the second year in a row.
Nolen was openly emotional over his Scobie Breasley Medal, the highest individual honour for a hoop riding in Australia, after saying he thought he would be overlooked as the jockey “riding the Peter Moody sit and steer” winners.
“It’s an incredible buzz,” Nolen said.
“The honour roll of the ‘Scobie’ is fantastic. I feel very humble to have won it.”
The hype is already hitting fever-pitch over when Black Caviar will resume, and although Moody is still weighing up the options, one thing that is for certain this spring racing season is where to get the best odds – Luxbet.
Headlining the online bookmaker industry for their generous markets and lucrative bonuses, Luxbet will have the hottest prices on Black Caviar this season and if you are new to join and deposit, make sure you quote the promo code BONUSBET to be instantly rewarded with a bonus bet valued up to $400!
Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Awards 2010-11
- Horse of the Year: Black Caviar 150, So You Think 134, Americain 28
- Fred Hoysted Award: Peter Moody 57, Alain de Royer Dupre 49, Bart Cummings 34
- Scobie Breasley Award: Luke Nolan 64, Craig Newitt 45, Ben Melham 37, Craig Williams 36, Dwayne Dunn 35
- Tommy Corrigan Medal: Steven Pateman 38, Gavin Bedggood 13, Trent Wells 12
