Black Caviar tonight...

[Lost Cause]

If anyone is up Black Caviar goes for 18 straight wins tonight at around 11:50pm (EST)..Australia race 6A..

Should be fun to watch..not bet..

[sighthound]

Can\'t miss it!   7 furlongs.

[Lost Cause]

OH MY GOD!!!

She won that grade 1 cantering around the entire track..SICK!!

[sighthound]

She never even had to accelerate.  All her races are on YouTube.  She\'ll race again next weekend if sound, and weekend after that if comes out okay.  I think they want her 20th win to be in Australia :-)

[Funny Cide]

She apparently beat a bunch of weiner dogs given the entire field was 99-1 except for her.  Hard to take that seriously.

[TreadHead]

It was and open Grade 1 against males, and Aus turf sprinters are no slouches on the international scene, I have seen several Aus bred/raced horses win turf sprints in Meydan the past few weeks.  It is the best the country has to offer (unlike the campaigns Zenyatta ran), if she is so much better that every dollar is wagered on her, and rightfully so.

It\'s a shame if they place so much emphasis on the 20th win in AUS thing and run her every 2 weeks.  She belongs in Dubai in a turf mile, there is nothing more to prove in AUS.

[Funny Cide]

TreadHead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was and open Grade 1 against males, and Aus
> turf sprinters are no slouches on the
> international scene, I have seen several Aus
> bred/raced horses win turf sprints in Meydan the
> past few weeks.  It is the best the country has to
> offer (unlike the campaigns Zenyatta ran), if she
> is so much better that every dollar is wagered on
> her, and rightfully so.
>
> It\'s a shame if they place so much emphasis on the
> 20th win in AUS thing and run her every 2 weeks.
> She belongs in Dubai in a turf mile, there is
> nothing more to prove in AUS.

They must\'ve been slouches to have all been at 99-1 odds.  When have you ever seen that in any race, much less a G1, in the U.S.?  Including Zenyatta\'s races.

[sighthound]

Bookie odds in Australia are different than parimutual tote odds in the US.

---------
SHE\'S the champion of the world, one of the best Australia has ever seen and the horse that broke the gates down.

Black Caviar, the best sprinting thoroughbred on the planet, turned back the clock at Caulfield today, dragging an old-fashioned bumper crowd that was allowed in free of charge just to see her run.

And at the same time she showed a glimpse of what\'s to come when she leaves Australia next month to take on the world.

As everyone expected her to, Black Caviar bounded to her 18th win from as many starts in the Group One CF Orr Stakes.

Only the South Australian mare Southern Speed made anything like a race of it with Black Caviar, and she had to produce the run of her life to fill second place, 3-1/4 lengths behind the great mare.

As well as taking her one race closer to the record number of wins for an unbeaten horse in Australia, it took her prizemoney total to a tick under $5 million.

\"That might have been her best run yet,\" said senior part-owner Neil Werrett.

\"It was her easiest.\"

As well as the massive crowd Black Caviar \"invited\" to see her Caulfield, her performance stopped a cricket match on the oval near the 1200m mark, the players jumping the fence to watch her flash past.

The only surprise to come from the race was delivered by trainer Peter Moody, who said he might run Black Caviar at Flemington next week and then come back to Caulfield the week after.

\"If she pulls up well, you might see her again in seven days, and if she comes through that all right, she might be back here seven days later.\"

Black Caviar is then scheduled to race in Dubai next month at the world\'s richest race meeting, before tackling Europe\'s best at Royal Ascot in June.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/black-caviar-does-it-easy-in-18th-straight-win-in-front-of-large-caulfield-crowd/story-e6frg7mf-1226268557033

[sighthound]

Edit:  I added some American conversions:
-----------------------
Records coupled with modern technology have enabled the expert judges and analysts to come up with the same finding - the unbeaten mare is a super freak. By Chris Roots.

SHE IS the closest thing to Phar Lap that racing has had in a century but Black Caviar still has a long way to go to rewrite the record books.

However, ask those who know and the overwhelming response is it is only a matter of time until she does. \'\'She is the best horse I have ever seen,\'\' says rails bookie and form analyst Robbie Waterhouse. \'\'She is the best in the world, I have no doubt about it.\'\'

Phar Lap was the benchmark of his time and beyond. He is built into the Australian sporting consciousness. He effectively won 27 times at the top level, Cox Plates, a Melbourne Cup, derbies, you name it, he ran in it and won. He went overseas long before it became the trend, and won, too.

Phar Lap, like Don Bradman was to cricket in the same period, will always lead the pantheon of turf stars, which includes names such as Carbine, Tulloch, Kingston Town and Makybe Diva.

Comparing different eras in any sport is complicated and inexact, as achievements are a product of competition. \'\'Our horses are better now because they are bred to be better and the training techniques are better,\'\' Waterhouse says.

Black Caviar, more than any horse since Phar Lap, has became public property. Her aura comes from her invincibility - 17 starts, 17 wins. It is a mark that has never been reached in Australia.

She is Australia\'s top sporting star of the present day. But can she match Phar Lap\'s record?

Probably not because she might not even have 29 starts, and she definitely won\'t run in that many group 1s.

Since 1978-79, racing has identified greatness using the group system. It rates the best races on four levels, group 1 being the best. Black Caviar has won seven times at group 1 level, which is a long way from the Australian leader, Kingston Town, which chalked up 14 wins in the 1980s.

It is a record that could fall to the freakish daughter of Bel Esprit. Another in her sights would be stakes wins, which takes in all four levels of the group system (groups 1-3 and listed). It is held by Sunline at 28 wins, Black Caviar sits on 16 and could move into the 20s by year\'s end if her winning streak continues.

The likelihood of that is extremely high, says Australia\'s leading time analyst Vince Accardi. \'\'Her average [time rating] is 12 lengths faster than standard,\'\' Accardi says. \'\'I have never seen anything like it. There was a point where I went back and checked my figures because I thought they had to be wrong.

\'\'I have a 15-year database and there is nothing on it that compares to her. The best example of how good she is, is Takeover Target, who was a great sprinter. His best rating was 11.7 lengths better than standard. She does that every time she races.\'\'

Accardi, who runs the website Daily Sectionals, measures 200-metre sections in metres per second. It gives him a great tool to measure horse against horse and predict performance. He clocked Black Caviar 19.47mps during her Newmarket win last year.

200-metres = a furlong = 1/8 mile
19.47 meters/second = 43.6 miles/hour

\'\'I don\'t think it is possible for a horse to go faster than 19.5 mps  [meters per second] if you can find one I would like to see it,\'\' he said. \'\'The thing that is extraordinary about her is her ability to hold high speed.

\'\'Horses can run in the high 18s but they very quickly fatigue and drop off because they are basically overexerting themselves.

\'\'[The Newmarket last year] was the day we saw how good she might be because it was 17.3 lengths better than standard, which is the highest performance I have on record.

\'\'She went 19.42, 19.47, 18.78 for three sections in a row, I have never seen that before. But she does it regularly.\'\'

Black Caviar has never been beyond 1200m [ 6 furlongs ] but this afternoon steps up to 1400m [ 7 furlongs ] in the Orr Stakes. She is expected to win. Accardi\'s numbers say it will be a formality. But he has gone further and measured her against the 20 best 1400m races in the past decade in Australia.

\'\'No horse has been able to run her numbers,\'\' he said. \'\'I believe it wouldn\'t be a worry for her to keep winning at 1400m and even a mile, given her pattern.

\'\'My model has her [potentially] about seven lengths better than the average of those 20 races, which is amazing.\'\'

Black Caviar possesses a potent mix of speed and endurance that staggers the experts.

Waterhouse has a different system, he favours stride length. He has estimated Black Caviar\'s stride to be beyond eight metres [ = 26\' 3\" ]

Man O\' War 28 feet
Secretariat 24 feet
John Henry 25.5 feet

\'\'Horses can have a giant stride and still be slow,\'\' Waterhouse says. \'\'But for a big horse, she is light on her feet. She seems to do it effortlessly and be in contact with the ground for less time than other horses.

\'\'I measured her strides in the Newmarket win and she took 12, 12, 13, 13 in the last 400m [in 100m sections]. The horses chasing her, Crystal Lily and Beaded, took 13.5, 13.5, 14, 15. That\'s a massive difference, she took six less strides to cover the same distance. She is just not fatiguing like her rivals.

[ 400 meters = 2 furlongs = 2/8 miles = 4/16 miles ]

\'\'In the T.J. Smith, she went 12, 13, 12, 13 and Hay List, which is a great sprinter, was 13, 14, 15, 15.\'\'

Black Caviar has been able to concentrate on sprints, not racing beyond 1200m, because of increased prizemoney. In the past, great sprinters have had to stretch out to 1600m (a mile then) to earn the big bucks.

Black Caviar has been able to earn more than $4.5 million in her 17 starts. It is impressive but still $10 million shy of the record amount three-time Melbourne Cup heroine Makybe Diva banked in her career.

Makybe Diva won 15 races but the race that stops the nation swelled her stakes by $8.4 million, making the prizemoney record another that appears out of reach for Black Caviar.

But is she the best in the world? Timeform, one of the oracles of the ratings game, puts unbeaten English sensation Frankel in front of Black Caviar at the end of last year. The measure Timeform use is pounds and it rates Frankel at 143 and Black Caviar at 135+, which indicates she is expected to improve.

\'\'It is there [the plus] for when she goes to 1400 metres and she could go up a couple of points,\'\' says Timeform\'s Australian agent, Gary Crispe.

Black Caviar will meet eight rivals when she chases win No. 18, this time over 1400m at Caulfield this afternoon.

Most in the crowd of about 30,000, who won\'t have to pay to get in after the Melbourne Racing Club decided to throw the gates open, will be there to see one horse, not nine races.

She will attract a nationwide television audience on the racing channels and on free-to-air through Channel Nine, and it will be transmitted globally.

So what is in store from Black Caviar for the remainder of the year, when she will take on the world like Phar Lap did, starting in either Dubai or Royal Ascot?

\'\'I can only go the numbers from her first-up run [in the Australia Stakes] where she was 12.8 lengths better than standard,\'\' Accardi says.

\'\'I would say that makes two or three lengths better than last time she was in work.\'\'

That is scary, but her trainer Peter Moody has always said she was getting better.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horseracing/black-caviar-within-a-lap-of-the-greats-20120210-1sksm.html#ixzz1m6xHwPJq

[sighthound]

Black Caviar\'s first public trial (public training run in company, an unofficial race) back in 2009.   She cantered to the win, not breathing.  You can then click on the page and go through all her other races.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AoTg3Sci0I

[Funny Cide]

sighthound Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bookie odds in Australia are different than
> parimutual tote odds in the US.
>
> ---------
> SHE\'S the champion of the world, one of the best
> Australia has ever seen and the horse that broke
> the gates down.
>
> Black Caviar, the best sprinting thoroughbred on
> the planet, turned back the clock at Caulfield
> today, dragging an old-fashioned bumper crowd that
> was allowed in free of charge just to see her
> run.
>
> And at the same time she showed a glimpse of
> what\'s to come when she leaves Australia next
> month to take on the world.
>
> As everyone expected her to, Black Caviar bounded
> to her 18th win from as many starts in the Group
> One CF Orr Stakes.
>
> Only the South Australian mare Southern Speed made
> anything like a race of it with Black Caviar, and
> she had to produce the run of her life to fill
> second place, 3-1/4 lengths behind the great
> mare.
>
> As well as taking her one race closer to the
> record number of wins for an unbeaten horse in
> Australia, it took her prizemoney total to a tick
> under $5 million.
>
> \"That might have been her best run yet,\" said
> senior part-owner Neil Werrett.
>
> \"It was her easiest.\"
>
> As well as the massive crowd Black Caviar
> \"invited\" to see her Caulfield, her performance
> stopped a cricket match on the oval near the 1200m
> mark, the players jumping the fence to watch her
> flash past.
>
> The only surprise to come from the race was
> delivered by trainer Peter Moody, who said he
> might run Black Caviar at Flemington next week and
> then come back to Caulfield the week after.
>
> \"If she pulls up well, you might see her again in
> seven days, and if she comes through that all
> right, she might be back here seven days later.\"
>
> Black Caviar is then scheduled to race in Dubai
> next month at the world\'s richest race meeting,
> before tackling Europe\'s best at Royal Ascot in
> June.
>
> http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/black-c
> aviar-does-it-easy-in-18th-straight-win-in-front-o
> f-large-caulfield-crowd/story-e6frg7mf-12262685570
> 33

Did you see the Aussie odds?  Not much better.

[sighthound]

Pretty amazing when the 2nd and 3rd place horses, both good Grade 1 winners, are at long odds, hum?

[Lost Cause]

Funny Cide Wrote:
----------------
>
> Did you see the Aussie odds?  Not much better.


Hey Cide,
I see what you\'re saying and I also want to see her beat some U.S or Euro top horses before anointing her greatest ever but in all those graded stakes races over there that she is winning under wraps there has to be some good ones in there..The thing that kills me watching those races is that the others are running but she\'s not..I\'m interested to see what happens when they actually shake the reins up..

[sighthound]

Hey TGJB:  I volunteer to move to Australia and be your track man there.
-------------
THE unexpected presence of Black Caviar at Flemington on Saturday to contest the $750,000 Lightning Stakes hasn\'t discouraged the connections of other class sprinters from taking on the mare as she attempts her 19th consecutive win.

Trainer Peter Moody yesterday signalled the all-conquering sprinter would revert back to the 1000 metres of the Lightning Stakes after emerging from the group 1 Orr Stakes success in good shape. Moody has set plans in motion for the champion to possibly have three starts in as many weeks during the autumn carnival.

\'\'She has pulled up super and we nominated her [for the Lightning Stakes] with the intention of running on Saturday if all progresses well this week,\'\' Moody\'s racing manager, Jeff O\'Connor, said.

\'\'We have up until Saturday morning to decide if she runs, but the signs are all very positive at this stage and we are pressing on with the intention of running her.\'\'

There are 16 nominations for the weight-for-age event, which doubles as the opening leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, but the race has attracted a considerable amount of depth.

However it appears that Hay List, who had been entered for the Lightning and who has run second to the great mare in three of their four clashes, may not run.

Co-owner Peter Davenport said they were not afraid of Black Caviar but the commonsense path might be to wait a week if she turned up on Saturday.

\'\'It came as a surprise to me when Peter Moody said he was thinking of backing her up,\'\' Davenport said.

\'\'We all had a conference this morning and decided we may have to reprogram.\'\'

Goodwood Handicap winner Lone Rock and top-flight mare Sister Madly are all confirmed as certain starters despite the appearance of Black Caviar. The champion sprinter will also be pitted against stablemate Curtana.

Buffering is also among the entries for the Lightning along with exciting three-year-olds Foxwedge and African Pulse, who both won jump-outs at Flemington last Friday.

And Kiwi three-year-old Smackdown, the least experienced of the Lightning entries, who won his only start over 1000 metres at a low-grade Tauherenikau meeting in New Zealand a week ago, is set to start.

Moody also yesterday indicated he wants to be given the opportunity to prepare the world\'s best sprinter for the Cox Plate.

The trainer told 3AW\'s Peter Maher Black Caviar was kept in Australia this year she could be prepared for it.

He all but ruled out a tilt at Australia\'s weight-for-age championship this year given Black Caviar\'s planned trips to Dubai and England.

Moody said he wouldn\'t be drawn on whether Black Caviar could win a Cox Plate but said: \'\'I\'d be brave enough to have a go at it if the owners asked me to go that way. The concern would not be the Cox Plate itself or the 2000-metre trip. The concern would be whether her body could handle the training required for such a race.\'\'

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/black-caviars-lightning-bid-fails-to-deter-rivals-20120213-1t27e.html#ixzz1mJWyb2Vn

[justwin]

If she goes for 3 straight in 3 weeks, I may be inclined to take a shot against her based on who will race against her and how much energy she exerts this week. I know the prices will be right.