It's All About Black Caviar

After Frankel's scintillating 11 length win in the first race of the meeting, the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday, many were expecting the Australian superstar Black Caviar to provide a similar conclusion in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee Stakes. In the end, the great mare won but not in the manner or style that we had anticipated.

There are numerous possible reasons to explain her disappointing performance. She won, which is what she came to do, but her actual performance was significantly inferior to both the performance we were expecting and the performance she is capable of. Perhaps it was the journey, the long season, the track, the ground, her minor injury, or perhaps she is not the horse she was. Whatever the explanation, there can be little doubt that the racegoers who flocked to Ascot on Saturday did not get to see her at her peak. I would be hugely surprised if there were not some validity in some of the reasons offered for her below par showing, but I cannot help but be puzzled by some comments. 

Before the race, my impression was that all was well in the Black Caviar camp, if not better than it had ever been. Her trainer, Peter Moody, commented: "When I saw her when I got here, I saw the same horse as the one that left. She's done really well, in fact so well that she may have to have a serious workout before Saturday", and that "Physically she is the fittest I've had her for two years. I can't fault her". It appears that Moody was as happy as he could be with the condition and fitness of his horse heading into the race. He was also confident about the result: "Facts and figures tell you that any opposition in the world would struggle to measure up to her", "she has this aura of invincibility" and "I would feel brave enough and cocky enough to suggest Black Caviar would have given them a good towelling in the King's Stand." Furthermore, her jockey, Luke Nolen, said "I'm feeling good and probably the reason for my confidence is that she is going so well", "we're enjoying it and I know the mare is going well". Connections were well aware of the risks attached in bringing her over but all the evidence suggests that they were delighted with her condition heading into the race.

After the race, the tone was a little different. I had only the pleasure of watching her on TV but, to my eye, connections, in particular Peter Moody, looked shell-shocked at what they had witnessed. No doubt many will point to Luke Nolen's "brain fade", but I suspect that Moody might have worn a similar expression without it. He was not expecting such a battle and it showed. Afterwards he said "she never travelled as strongly as she normally does and I had concerns half a mile out. She's had lots of niggles and she's carried us for a long time both a 10,000 mile journey into the equation and this was always going to be the greatest risk of her career" and "She's had a long season followed by a long trip and the owners are to be congratulated". All true and all valid points but if the travel was a problem, if the long season was a problem, if past niggles were a problem, why were the pre-race noises so overwhelmingly positive? The pre-race comments were so positive as to place a question mark over the explanations.

Nolen said "I think it was just due to the fact that she'd had a gruelling run", "I let her idle, that big engine shut down and I shit myself duly. I thought she'd coast but when I relaxed she came right back under me. It took me by surprise. She nearly carted me in Newmarket earlier in the week but she didn't bring that to the races with her". Nolen often eases up on the mare close home in Australia and did the same thing at Ascot and very nearly paid the ultimate price. Firstly, far too much has been made of the ride. In the context of the whole race it was minimal and was the difference between a length win and the rather uncomfortable head verdict. It was a glaring error and, therefore, and easy target but it should not be used to explain the performance. I thought the margin would have been less than a length regardless and that is still a long way short of what many were expecting. Nolen deserves great credit for his honesty about his mistake but I find his explanations more interesting. He was expecting her to cruise through the line as she does in Australia but she did nothing of the sort. It also hints to the idea that Nolen assumed he had the race won, that he must be sufficiently clear already, and he need not ride her out fully. Was this a result of underestimating the ability of the opposition or a result of the reasons offered above for her disappointing performance? I have read that he eased up because he wanted to go easy on her given that she was not herself. That is possible but I find myself tending towards the opposite explanation, that Nolen eased up because he had a good feeling from the mare and, therefore, must have had the race won. 

Perhaps my cynicism is getting the better of me and, as I say, I am sure there is validity in some explanations. What I find hard to accept is the huge swing from pre-race confidence to post-race explanations. 

However, let that not detract from what she achieved. In unfavourable circumstances she stretched her unbeaten record to 22 races, an astonishing feat. This was not the silky smooth Black Caviar that I have watched before; she did not travel with the same elan, she did not power clear of her rivals with her customary turn of foot, she did not saunter through the line with plenty left in the locker. We already knew that she had all those qualities but in winning the Diamond Jubilee she displayed attributes very different to those we normally see: she was tenacious and brave. I have never seen her required to display such virtues before, and let that be an indication of just how good she is. To beat the likes of Hay List on the bridle, without the need to battle, is a testament to her ability.

I had all but bought my tickets when it was announced that Saturday had sold out. In the morning I was beginning to think that I had made a terrible mistake. I am told that the atmosphere was unlike anything before experienced on a British racecourse and there was a real sense that something special was in the offing. This is both brilliant and worrying all at the same time. It is brilliant for obvious reasons but it is worrying because it took an Australian Champion, the second best horse in the World, to create it. I understand that her coming over was special and unique but was it, or should it, have been the highlight of the five day meeting? Ryan Moore commented beforehand that he felt the Black Caviar story had strayed into overkill. I think, to some extent, he has a point but, on the other hand, he is as wrong as wrong can be. We, the British racing public, can learn something from the Australians. They celebrate Champions far better than we do and it is phenomenal that their horse was the highlight of our meeting when our horse is the best in the World. I mean that in the best possible way. It was their excitement, their enthusiasm for their Champion which was so infectious. It is a travesty that the brilliance of Frankel, (arguably?) the best horse we have ever seen, was lost in the Black Caviar circus. And this is where Ryan is right. The Black Caviar story was overdone, but not in a negative way because it just filled the gaping chasm that we appear unable to fill. Ryan should have been commenting on how fed up he was of reading about Frankel. The mainstream media took to the Black Caviar story, and understandably so, but the horse they should have been writing about is Frankel. They came, they saw and they conquered, but, more importantly, they conquered our media. British racing can learn a lot from that.

She did not indulge us with her best, but let us be thankful that she came and thankful for what she brought with her. She brought unprecedented media interest and it is now our job to ensure that we generate the same level of coverage for our own stars. I have written far more about Black Caviar than I have about Frankel's Queen Anne so I am as guilty as any but be in no doubt that Frankel was the highlight of the meeting, and rightfully so. He is the best in the World, the best we have ever seen, an equine phenomenon. Now let us celebrate him like we are Australian.