After Hay List was beaten once again by the talent Black Caviar in last Saturday’s BTC Cup, John McNair has come to the realisation that his talented gelding may never beat the superstar mare.

McNair was confident his horse could finally win when he was 200 metres out from the finishing post; however, Black Caviar once again cruised past Hay List to another effortless victory.

“At the furlong I thought we were still in front and that’s when I thought, ‘wow, wait until he goes into overdrive,” McNair said.

“But she’s got a rocket up her backside or something, I don’t know.”

McNair said that if he is beaten easily once again in the Doomben 10,000 on May 28, he will find a race schedule that does not clash with Black Caviar’s in the future.

“If she towels us up again, I am not going to say that I won’t run against her again, but we will avoid her where we can and try and map out a program that keeps him a little bit away from her,” McNair said.

“We will have one more go at her, we have planned that all along, so there is no point in picking up our bat and ball and running home.

“We came up for a mission, so we may as well fulfil it.”

McNair was quick to say how thrilled he was to have a horse like Hay List, in spite of his recent defeats against Black Caviar.

“Not that I’m that heartbroken about it,” McNair said.

“I am still in awe of the fact I have this horse.”

The trainer cannot help but dream about a world without the talent of Black Caviar.

“But you can’t lose sight of the fact that if she wasn’t there, he wins the Lightning by four easily,” McNair said.

“He wins the TJ by five with improvement to come.

“He wins the All Aged Stakes running away when she is not there and then he wins the BTC Cup by another big margin.

“And you would be starting to talk about him alongside the greats like Manikato. He probably is still there but she is beating him.

“He is freakish, a horse that has so much ability it is scary, and he isn’t winning.”

While Hay List is currently nominated for the $1 million Stradbroke Handicap next month, the race may not fit in to McNair’s plans to have him right for a spring campaign.

“To fix his [feet] problems he needs time and to get him back to the spring, that’s where the difficulty lies,” McNair said.

“I was only able to give him three weeks into the spring last year and if we go on to the Stradbroke, we’re back into a similar position.

“If I don’t go on, I have an extra two weeks to get him right.”

McNair will decide on his next move after his next clash with Black Caviar in two weeks’ time.

“We will make that decision after the 10,000,” McNair said.

“Obviously weights will come into it as well.

“It’s not so much what weight he gets. It’s more what the others don’t get.”

Hay List has only failed to win six of his 20 career race starts, with four of these being against the mighty Black Caviar.