South Australian Jockey Club chief executive Brenton Wilkinson has virtually conceded that world champion sprinter Black Caviar will not pursue a repeat Goodwood win and fully expects her to make a return trip to Brisbane for the Group 1 $400,000 Bundaberg Distilling Co. BTC Cup (1200m) on May 11.
Black Caviar makes in win number 25 taking out the T J Smith Stakes at Randwick, Photo by Steve Hart.
The Group 1 $500,000 The Distinctive Homes Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville is run on the same day as the BTC Cup which has already been transferred by the Brisbane Racing Club from Doomben to Eagle Farm to accommodate the 40,000 crowd expected to turn up to see the extraordinary race mare.
Connections of Black Caviar will decide later in the week where the undefeated super star of the turf will attempt to win race number twenty-six.
Trainer Peter Moody has thrown up four likely options which could see her return to Morphettville after winning a Group 1 double there last Autumn taking out the $400,000 Sportingbet Classic (1200m) and the Goodwood, head back to Brisbane to make it two BTC Cups after winning the Group 1 sprint in 2011.
The other options are to return to England for Royal Ascot or spell and prepare for the Spring in Melbourne.
After extensive talks with Moody, Wilkinson expects the former Queenslander to take the Black Caviar show back to his home state one more time before a decision is made to retire her.
“Peter Moody is a devout Queenslander and he seems determined that her next run will be in Brisbane,” Wilkinson said.
“We know he is really passionate about going back to Queensland with her.
“We have been in constant contact, mainly about the nomination deadline and the race conditions.
“We haven’t given him a carton of cigarettes or booze to try to sway him, and we haven’t looked at a $1 million sponsorship boost.
“We had 30,000 at Morphettville last year when she raced. Without her we will have a quality Group 1 field and we might get 3000, that’s the sort of difference she makes.”
Brisbane Racing Club chief executive Steve Ferguson has been on the front foot trying to lure Moody and his team back to Brisbane for the Winter Carnival and have already initiated the venue move to give more Queenslanders a greater opportunity to witness the feats of the great race mare.
“We are doing everything possible to get Black Caviar to Brisbane,” Ferguson said.
Black Caviar returned to Sydney last Saturday to win her second Group 1 $1m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick taking her unbeaten run to twenty-five as well as surpassing the great Kingston Town’s Australian Group 1 record by chalking up her sixteen Group 1 success and taking her prizemoney to a touch under $8 million.
