Black Caviar is expected to draw a full house at Doomben for BTC Cup Day
The Black Caviar express is set to roll into Brisbane next month and experts are tipping a rare capacity crowd to fill the stands at Doomben Racecourse with thousands of fans wanting to catch a glimpse of racing royalty.
Peter Moody’s freakishly talented Bel Esprit mare Black Caviar is set to contest the $400,000 Group 1 BTC Cup (1200m) on May 14 and extend her unbeaten career record to a baker’s dozen.
Rated the world’s best thoroughbred, Black Caviar became a five-time Group 1 winner at just her 12th start last Saturday chasing down Hay List with ease to win the $1 million Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) by three lengths at Randwick.
An unforgettable champion of the highest calibre, Black Caviar is not only the first Australian horse in history to win its first 12 race starts she is also the first mare to win five Group 1 races consecutively.
Having run and won at the highest level both in her home state of Victoria and in New South Wales, Black Caviar is now headed to Queensland for more Group 1 glory.
For her Sydney debut the salmon and black polka-dot army were in full force with close to 30,000 racegoers turning out at Royal Randwick for the Black Caviar show.
Now the drawcard mare is set to make her first appearance in Brisbane and the black beauty easily has the ability to attract a full-house of 16,000 at Doomben.
Adding to Black Caviar’s appeal in the Sunshine State is the fact her master trainer Peter Moody is a born and bred Maroon.
Now based at Flemington, Moody originated from western Queensland’s country town of Wyandra that has a population of just 116.
Moody has also named the $650,000 Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) on May 28 as a possible target for Black Caviar.
A win in both these Brisbane features will see Black Caviar equal the great Bernborough’s record of seven straight Group 1 wins set in 1945.
And it is not since Bernborough that Doomben has been packed to the rafters, the outstanding champion winner of 1946 Doomben 10,000 and Doomben Cup.
One brave sprinter set to face off against Black Caviar in this year’s BTC Cup is Gerald Ryan’s Redoute’s Choice mare Melito.
Melito, who most recently ran second to superstar miler More Joyous in the Group 1 Queen of the Turf Stakes (1500m), was a close second beaten in the final stride by Albert The Fat in the BTC Cup last winter.
Queensland produced plenty of success for Melito last year as she went on to finish third to Hot Danish in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 and second to Black Piranha in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap before winning the Group 1 Winter Stakes at Eagle Farm.
