June 22,
2013
Dear
Readers,
As promised I will continue with my
review of the “2013 Breeder’s Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ Challenge Series.”
If you recall I already talked about Variety
Club winning the first race in the series, the “L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, run
in South Africa at Kenilworth Race Track in Cape Town. When Variety Club looked
hard pressed, he pulled away from the challengers and won easily.
The second race in the series was the T. J.
Smith Stakes, a Group 1 stakes named to honor the trainer Thomas John Smith.
The race is contested in Australia and run over the grass course at Randwick
Racecourse in Sydney.
This year the horse that has been described
as brilliant, dominant and unforgettable, came out to further her reputation,
and earn herself another trip to Ascot, as well as a likely hook-up with
Frankel in the breeding shed afterwards.
Black Caviar, the name brings back memories of
Robin Leach, his rich nasal tone and upper crust accent spouting; "champagne
wishes and caviar dreams,” at the end of each episode of “The Lifestyles of The
Rich and Famous.”
If
Black Caviar’s connections weren’t rich and famous before, they certainly are
now. OMG…what a mare! I don’t care if she spent the majority of her racing
career in Australia. I don’t care that the one time she ventured out of
Australia, she nearly got beat, only winning by a nose. She won! What
difference if it was a nose or four lengths, she won! She beat some of the
world’s best sprinters in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in
England.
I
don’t care if they never brought her to the Breeders Cup Challenge. Though I
wish they had. We Americans love a good horse―the crowds would have been monumental. But
then again, why should Black Caviars’ connections pay a huge supplemental
payment to get her eligible to run on Breeder’s Cup Day. Ship her thousands of
miles to be put into guarantee on both ends of the trip, and run her on a turf
course in the United States so different from the ones she was used to. They
didn’t have anything to prove, and so they didn’t.
When I reviewed the T. J. Smith Stakes, I watched Black Caviar win her
25th consecutive race. She won every race she ever ran in and beat
every horse that tried to take her on. Big and beautiful like our own Zenyatta;
Black Caviar is 16.2 hands and over 1350 pounds. Her stride is a thing of
beauty and watching her run made me emotional and I found myself wiping
moisture away from the corners of my eyes.
Black Caviar was retired after this race. She had suffered injuries over
the years and her trainer Peter Moody had managed them with skill. She’d come
back from a pulled chest muscle and an injury to a suspensory ligament as a
three year old, and she came out of the Diamond Jubilee with a tear in the quadriceps
and sacroiliac last year. After a respite from training she was brought back to
win again this year. After winning the T. J. Smith Stakes a very emotional Peter Moody
announced on behalf of the great mares’ connections, it had been decided to
retire her from further racing. Thus ending the dream of taking her to England
to run at Ascot once again, and then on to the breeding shed and a date with
the incomparable Frankel, before bringing her back to Australia.
Black Caviar may still be bred to Frankel, as of a June 6th
posting, a decision still hadn’t been made as to who she would be serviced by.
I
will have to be satisfied to have seen the replays of this horse winning race
after race. I have always had a spot in my heart for great fillies. Ruffian, Lady’s
Secret, Genuine Risk and my favorite Miss Alleged. I got to feed Miss Alleged peppermints
with Charles Whittingham. I hope to see great things from this mare at the
breeding shed in the years to come. This mare captured the hearts of a nation
and mine as well.
Remember to look at my website, I will be at a book signing in downtown
Pleasanton this coming Wednesday the 26th of June and I will be at
the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton to present the trophy to the winning
owner of the Casual Lies Handicap on July 4th Independence Day. I am
so excited about this honor. I hope to be in Kentucky in the fall for a book
fair and I will announce when and where as it gets closer.
Take care,
Shelley Riley
www.shelleyriley.com
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