The Black Caviar Lightning rightfully claims Australia’s elite sprint showdown status, as this Saturday’s Flemington feature will rank a captivating generation under the spotlight.
In the 1000m Group 1, expect returns from Golden Slipper winner Marhoona of last year, Golden Rose record-setter Beiwacht, and Coolmore Stud Stakes ace Tentyris.
Never before have same-year Slipper, Golden Rose, and Coolmore Group 1 winners locked horns since those races gained top-grade prestige.
Coolmore graduates often target the Lightning next, unlike winners of the prior two.
Exosphere is unique as a Group 1 Golden Rose winner racing the Lightning at three, with Crystal Lily and Stratum the solitary Slipper winners doing so the following season since 1990.
Crystal Lily met Black Caviar in 2011 en route to fifth place, echoing Stratum’s 2006 finish behind Takeover Target.
Three Slipper alumni sit on the Lightning winners’ list, last being Storm Queen in 1967.
Fifteen three-year-old boys and nine girls have prevailed in the Lightning, but post their 1998-2005 surge of six in eight, just Home Affairs (2021) and Coolangatta (2023) have won as juveniles.
Six three-year-old winners this century from 72 runners, below the nine expected by markets.
Only Home Affairs didn’t reach peak Timeform pre-race among those six, yet clocked 126 – equaling the century’s top three-year-old Lightning mark – shy one pound of his 127 Coolmore.
Of 72, 22 (30 percent) hit or topped previous bests, suffering average eight-pound regression.
This field’s Group 1 three-year-olds see Marhoona most desperate for uplift from 117 Golden Slipper, with no sub-118 Lightning winner since 2002’s Spinning Hill (114).
Beiwacht (123 Golden Rose) and Tentyris (124+ Coolmore Stud Stakes) top the 10-year 122.2 average since Black Caviar/Lankan Rupee’s 130+ feats.
Little room for decline exists in Saturday’s test against My Gladiola (112), Military Tycoon (103), and Giga Kick (back-to-back 122s last spring); explore the top racing betting markets ahead of the Black Caviar Lightning.
Giga Kick notched 122 first-up in the October 11 Group 2 1100m Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield, duplicating in Flemington’s Group 1 1200m Champions Sprint.
Group 1 winners Baraqiel (120 peak) and Benedetta (116) complete the field.
The post a-closer-look-black-caviar-lightning/882124 first appeared on Just Horse Racing.