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The Lightning Stakes, renamed the Black Caviar Lightning, is the first sprinting race of the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival and is a premier weight-for-age event. As a 1000m race, there are no turns and horses just battle it out on the straight of the Flemington race rack.

The $1,000,000 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes is the only 1000m Group 1 race held in Australia and since 2005 it has been the first leg of the Global Sprint Challenge. A possible lead-up to the Lightning Stakes is Caulfield’s Group 2 Rubition Stakes (1200m) on C.F. Orr Stakes Day a fortnight earlier, but many runners take to the track first-up.

The Black Caviar Lightning serves as a nice autumn racing guide to the upcoming Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) the following month back at Flemington and Black Caviar (2011), Lankan Rupee (2014) and Redkirk Warrior (2018) all recent winners of the double.

In 2020 the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes was won by Gytrash who went on to run top three in his next seven starts including running third in that season’s Newmarket Handicap and second in the William Reid Stakes. He also ran third in the spring’s $15 million The Everest before winning the $1 million Winners’ Stakes.

The 2021 Black Caviar Lightning winner Nature Strip would continue on to win that year’s Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes and VRC Classic as well as the $15 million The Everest.

Nature Strip returned in 2021 as the favourite to defend his title, but after missing the kick he could only manage to run second to his young stablemate Home Affairs in a thrilling photo-finish.

The 2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes ran on Saturday February 19, 2022 and saw Chris Waller’s three-year-old Home Affairs defeat his star stablemate Nature Strip in a photo. 

Black Caviar Lightning Stakes 2022
Date:	Saturday February 19, 2022
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1000m
Race Type:	Weight-For-Age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$1,000,000

2022 Black Caviar Lightning Results

• 1st: #8 Home Affairs ($7.50)
• 2nd: #1 Nature Strip
• 3rd: #2 Eduardo

Chris Waller ran the quinella in the Black Caviar Lightning 2022 results for the second straight year with his returning Coolmore Stud Stakes winning three-year-old Home Affairs ($7.50) enjoying an upset win over his luckless stablemate Nature Strip ($2.20F) who missed the kick and was shut out of a run the early stages before a late charge.

Click here to read more on the 2022 Black Caviar Lightning win by three-year-old Home Affairs.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	8	HOME AFFAIRS	Chris Waller	James McDonald		8	55.5kg		$7.50
	2	1	NATURE STRIP	Chris Waller	Ms Jamie Kah	0.1L	6	58.5kg		$2.20F
	3	2	EDUARDO	Joseph Pride	Nash Rawiller	1.6L	5	58.5kg		$3.80
	4	7	SWATS THAT	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Oliver	1.7L	9	56.5kg		$61
	5	3	MASKED CRUSADER	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	3.95L	3	58.5kg		$11
	6	9	PROFITEER	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Brett Prebble	4.25L	7	55.5kg		$31
	7	6	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	John Allen	6L	1	58.5kg		$91
	8	5	THE INFERNO	Cliff Brown	Damian Lane	6.75L	4	58.5kg		$31
	9	4	GYTRASH	Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle	Mark Zahra	12.25L	2	58.5kg		$9.50

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2022 Black Caviar Lightning Odds

The latest Black Caviar Lightning Stakes 2022 betting odds will be available below the week of the race complete with market links to Ladbrokes.com.au.

2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes Field

The Black Caviar Lightning Field attracts a line-up of the autumn’s best sprinters including those spring stars resuming off campaigns the season prior that included runs in races like The Everest and VRC Classic.

Nature Strip (2021) completed the Black Caviar Lightning – The Everest – VRC Classic treble.

The 2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes field will be provided below as soon as released by Racing Victoria the Wednesday before the race.

A small but exciting field of nine sprinters do battle in the 2022 Black Caviar Lightning on Saturday with the reigning champion and last spring’s The Everest hero Nature Strip dominating betting.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the Black Caviar Lightning 2022 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x121x1211x	NATURE STRIP	Chris Waller	Ms Jamie Kah	6	58.5kg		120
2	x1131x131x	EDUARDO	Joseph Pride	Nash Rawiller	5	58.5kg		116
3	125x15126x	MASKED CRUSADER	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	3	58.5kg		114
4	31x30x370x	GYTRASH	Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle	Mark Zahra	2	58.5kg		113
5	1111x6120x	THE INFERNO	Cliff Brown	Damian Lane	4	58.5kg		110
6	x5411313x3	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	John Allen	1	58.5kg		104
7	x358x8052x	SWATS THAT	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Oliver	9	56.5kg		108
8	2138x191x	HOME AFFAIRS	Chris Waller	James McDonald	8	55.5kg		111
9	1127x621x	PROFITEER	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Brett Prebble	7	55.5kg		87

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes Nominations

The 2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes nominations will be published here the Monday of race week.

Early 2022 Black Caviar Lightning nominations attracted eleven sprinters dominated by resuming The Everest champion and the defending champion Nature Strip.

Note: Nominations have been extended until 10:00am (AEDT) on Tuesday. 

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	6x3121323x	BELLA NIPOTINA	M	4	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	108
2	x1131x131x	EDUARDO	G	8	Joseph Pride	116
3	1x16x31x4	ENTHAAR	F	3	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	98
4	31x30x370x	GYTRASH	G	6	Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle	113
5	2138x191x	HOME AFFAIRS	C	3	Chris Waller	111
6	125x15126x	MASKED CRUSADER	G	5	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	114
7	x121x1211x	NATURE STRIP	G	7	Chris Waller	120
8	1127x621x	PROFITEER	C	3	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	87
9	x358x8052x	SWATS THAT	M	4	Leon & Troy Corstens	108
10	x5411313x3	THE ASTROLOGIST	G	5	Leon & Troy Corstens	104
11	1111x6120x	THE INFERNO	G	5	Cliff Brown	110

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Lightning Stakes History

First won by Gay Vista in 1955, the Lightning Stakes has attracted plenty of standout horses, jockeys and trainers. Bart Cummings has won the event a record eight times with Storm Queen in 1967, Century in 1974, Cap D’antibes in 1975, Maybe Mahal in 1977-78, Demus in 1983, Hula Chief in 1986 and Shaftsbury Avenue in 1991.

Jockey Harry White has won the Lightning Stakes on top of four horses, The Judge in 1979, Cap D’antibes in 1975, Zambari in 1972 and Black Onyx in 1970. Damien Oliver has also won four Lightning Stakes races with three horses; Schillaci in 1992-93, Gold Ace in 1996 and Testa Rossa in 2000. There have also been plenty of double winners starting with Sky High in 1961-62, Wenona Girl in 1963-64, Maybe Mahal in 1977-78, River Rough in 1984-85 and Schillci in 1992-93.

In 1980, the Lightning Stakes became a Group 2 race and then seven years later in 1987 it was elevated to Group 1 status.

The 2018 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes results produced a shock winner in Redkirk Warrior who ran down the odds-on favourite Redzel. Redkirk Warrior would go on to also successfully defend his title in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap.

Trainer Chris Waller ran the quinella in the Black Caviar Lightning in both 2021 with Nature Strip and September Run, and 2022 with Home Affairs and Nature Strip.

Home Affairs made history with his upset win in 2022 becoming the first three-year-old Lightning Stakes winner in 17 years since the 2005 victory of Fastnet Rock.

The Lightning Stakes has been renamed the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes in honour of champion sprinter Black Caviar.

Recent Lightning Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2022 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Home Affairs	56.64 seconds
	2nd	Nature Strip
	3rd	Eduardo
2021 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Nature Strip	56.91 seconds
	2nd	September Run
	3rd	Swats That
2020 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Gytrash	57.53 seconds
	2nd	Redzel
	3rd	Loving Gaby
2019 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	In Her Time	56.69 seconds
	2nd	Osborne Bulls
	3rd	Sunlight
2018 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Redkirk Warrior	56.33 seconds
	2nd	Redzel
	3rd	Missrock
2017 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Terravista	57.26 seconds
	2nd	Spieth
	3rd	Star Turn
2016 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Chautauqua	57.02 seconds
	2nd	Terravista
	3rd	Japonisme
2015 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Lankan Rupee	56.29 seconds
	2nd	Brazen Beau
	3rd	Deep Field
2014 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Snitzerland	57.16 seconds
	2nd	Shamexpress
	3rd	Samaready
2013 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	55.42 seconds
	2nd	Moment Of Change
	3rd	Golden Archer
2012 Lightning Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	55.53 seconds
	2nd	Hay List
	3rd	Buffering
2011 Lightning Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	57.20 seconds
	2nd	Hay List
	3rd	Warm Love
2010 Lightning Stakes	1st	Nicconi	57.12 seconds
	2nd	Wanted
	3rd	Shellscrape
2009 Lightning Stakes	1st	Scenic Blast	56.9 seconds
	2nd	Typhoon Zed
	3rd	Grand Duels
2008 Lightning Stakes	1st	Apache Cat	57.3 seconds
	2nd	Swick
	3rd	Stanzout
2007 Lightning Stakes	1st	Miss Andretti	57.2 seconds
	2nd	Magnus
	3rd	Ticklish
2006 Lightning Stakes	1st	Takeover Target	56.8 seconds
	2nd	Gods Own
	3rd	Cape Of Good Hope
2005 Lightning Stakes	1st	Fastnet Rock	57.3 seconds
	2nd	Alinghi
	3rd	Cape Of Good Hope
2004 Lightning Stakes	1st	Regimental Gal	57 seconds
	2nd	Our Egyptian Raine
	3rd	Mistegic
2003 Lightning Stakes	1st	Choisir	56.9 seconds
	2nd	Spinning Hill
	3rd	Azevedo
2002 Lightning Stakes	1st	Spinning Hill	57.1 seconds
	2nd	Mistegic
	3rd	Chong Tong
2001 Lightning Stakes	1st	Sports	57 seconds
	2nd	Black Bean
	3rd	Easy Rocking
2000 Lightning Stakes	1st	Testa Rossa	56 seconds
	2nd	Falvelon
	3rd	Magic Music