Superstar mare Black Caviar will line up against nine rivals when attempting to score a 20th straight win in the Group 1 $400,000 Sportingbet Classic at Morphetville this Saturday.

Black Caviar will face nine opponents in the Sportingbet Classic - photo (c) Taron Clarke

Otherwise known as the Robert Sangster Stakes, the 1200 metre sprint will see the champion mare attempt to break the Australasian record for consecutive victories which she currently shares with Desert Gold and Gloaming.

Connections of her competitors are likely to be in it for the spectacle rather than an attempt to end her reign, with Black Caviar being offered as $1.04 favourite at most bookmakers prior to the field being named this morning.

Headlining the list of rivals to the world’s best sprinter is last year’s Group 1 Goodwood Handicap winner Lone Rock who is coming off a third-place effort in the William Reid Stakes.

Yesterday her Sydney based trainer Robert Smerdon was not brave enough to suggest she could match the wonder mare but said she would go into the race well prepared.

“You don’t go there thinking you can beat Black Caviar but horse racing is horse racing and anything can happen,” Smerdon said.

“She’s going well and she has good form at the track and distance so if you take Black Caviar out, you’d have to think she would be a big chance of winning it.”

Other horses set to take on Black Caviar include in-form mare Just Sybil, Simon Miller-trained Power Princess and Mark Kavanagh six-year-old Valentine Miss.

Black Caviar will have regular jockey Luke Nolen in the saddle when she runs from barrier three in what is one of two feature events at Morphetville this weekend.

Chasing a tenth Group 1 victory, Black Caviar will travel to the South Australian capital tomorrow after impressing in a final hit-out at Caulfield this morning under the watchful eye of trainer Peter Moody.

A sell-out crowd of approximately 30,000 people are expected to be drawn to Morphetville this weekend for the first of two races Black Caviar will contest in Adelaide.

She will return to her Caulfield base immediately after Saturday’s event but will head back to Adelaide a fortnight later for the Goodwood Handicap which will serve as a final leadup before departing overseas for the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot.