The racing career of Black Caviar may be over but the plaudits continue to flow with the wonder mare named Australian Racehorse of the Year for the third year in a row at the National Awards Ceremony in Melbourne last night.
Black Caviar was retired after her victory in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes in April. Photo by: Steve Hart
Black Caviar received 251 of a possible 294 votes to win the award from half-brother All Too Hard (179 votes), Cox Plate winner Ocean Park (50 votes), classy colt Pierro (38 votes) and Three-Year-Old Triple Crown winner It’s A Dundeel (28 votes).
The daughter of Bel Esprit recorded three wins from three starts during the 2012/2013 racing season and extended her unprecedented undefeated streak to 25 memorable victories.
She returned to the races after a lengthy lay-off, after her famous win in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1207m) during the 2012 Royal Ascot Meeting, in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (that had just been renamed in her honour) and showed she had lost none of her brilliance by breaking the Flemington 1000 metre track record.
The six-year-old had her final race start in Melbourne when she recorded the easiest of wins in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley before returning to Sydney for just the second time in her career to win the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) by three lengths.
Black Caviar became only the second horse in the history of the award to be named Australian Champion Racehorse on three straight occasions; joining champion mare Sunline who had a stranglehold on the award from 2000 to 2002.
The once in a generation equine superstar wasn’t the only horse to be honored on the night; with a number of awards handed out across a variety of categories.
All Too Hard got the better of Pierro again by being named Champion Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding, while the injured Norzita took out the filly’s equivalent of the award.
Golden Slipper winner Overreach upset Guelph to win the Champion Two-Year-Old Award but most of the other awards went as expected with; Black Caviar named Champion Sprinter, Ocean Park claiming the Middle Distance Award, Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon receiving the title of Champion Stayer and Bashboy named Champion Jumper.
Legendary trainer Bart Cummings was honored on the night and the inaugural Bart Cummings Award for the most successful Group 1 trainer was won by Chris Waller, while Hugh Bowman and Kerrin McEvoy were joint winners of the Champion Group 1 Jockey Award.
