Black Caviar took out the Australian Racehorse of the Year Award, but not all judges deemed her the best

Sure her win was dominant and it was never genuinely in doubt but a handful of people considered to be the best judges of horse racing in Australia deemed the performance of Black Caviar last season not worthy of the ‘best in Australia’ tag.

Black Caviar finished the night with a tally of 301 votes, an impressive number however still 17 short of the maximum accruable of 318.

The voting committee is made up of a host of members including CEO’s, stewards, handicappers and select members of the racing media who vote off a 3-2-1 points system.

On that basis at least 17 of the judges found a horse they deemed more worthy of winning the title.

It’s an interesting scenario given she is the first Australian horse in history to top the world thoroughbred rankings on the back of an unbeaten eight race stint which included six Group 1 wins as well as the odd race record as well.

Her closest rival was So You Think which picked up 208 votes to once again finish runner up as he did in the Victoria horse of the year awards.

By comparison he won four Group 1’s over the 12 months before moving to Aidan O’Brien in Europe where his wins ceased to count as a result of the trainer change.

In third spot is was Sepoy with 58 votes and More Joyous in fourth with 48 votes.

Even the harshest judge couldn’t find an alternative for Black Caviar in the Champion Sprinter category though with the maximum 318 votes picked up.

Her success flowed through to trainer and jockey as well with Peter Moody becoming the Group 1 Champion Trainer with nine victories and Luke Nolen the Group 1 Champion Jockey with eight wins.

Black Caviar is the latest in a long line of mares to win Australia’s number one title with Sunline starting the trend in 2000 – 2002 before Makybe Diva in 2005 and 2006, Miss Andretti in 2007 and Typhoon Tracy in 2010.