She has her own website,
Facebook page, Twitter account, merchandising range and countless fans. Now,
after a journey halfway round the world, the record-breaking Australian mare
Black Caviar has won her 22nd consecutive race to thrill the crowds at Royal
Ascot. The 10,000-mile trip was an adventure in itself. She stood for more than
30 hours in a spandex compression suit inside a special cargo crate as she flew
from Melbourne to London Heathrow via Singapore and Sharjah. Once in London,
she was taken to stables in Newmarket where she was in quarantine for 48 hours.
The thick-set dark-brown
beauty brought an entourage of nine with her, including a vet, a farrier and a
chiropractor. Co-owner David Taylor estimated the whole sojourn will have cost
150,000 Australian dollars (nearly £100,000), of which a third was spent on
transport. All of this so she could put her modern-day record unbeaten run on
the line, and claim victory in her first race outside her homeland. Black
Caviar's silks of salmon with black spots were sprinkled liberally among
flag-waving followers around the Berkshire course. More than 6,000 Australians
are estimated to have witnessed the "Wonder from Down Under" squeak
home in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee Stakes. Company director Dean Portelli, 49,
from Melbourne, was among a group of 26 visiting Royal Ascot for the first time
to see the odds-on favourite in action. "Black Caviar just captures the
imagination. For me, she is a heroine - I would put her on a pedestal," he
said before the race. "There are Aussies everywhere here - I've bumped
into lots of people I know.
The
visit has not come cheaply, but no-one was complaining as they prepared to see
the most famous horse to have raced in Australia since the legendary Phar Lap
in the 1930s. "The trip will probably cost us about 10,000 Australian
dollars (about £6,500) each but to be at this occasion and see Black Caviar and
the best horses racing, it doesn't seem that expensive," said Greg Fagan,
a 56-year-old Australian investment advisor. Black Caviar, affectionately
nicknamed "Nelly", is trained near Melbourne by Peter Moody, and was
ridden in the big race by Luke Nolen. Despite being a female sprinter running
over six furlongs, at 565 kilograms (about 88 stone) she weighs more than bulky
former steeple chasing star Denman. Black Caviar's stride has been
independently measured at 8.33m, meaning she takes 24 strides over 200m (a
furlong). Her rivals can take 30 to cover the same distance. The horse, who has
earned £3.6m in career prize money, is owned by five couples who bought her for
210,000 Australian dollars (about £140,000). Saturday's feature race boasted a
winner's purse of £283,000, but bigger rewards are on offer in Australia. "The
prize money doesn't compare with what our races are worth in Melbourne. It's
more about the experience and prestige". He said the horse had coped well
with the marathon journey. "The horse is a magnificent specimen, the
trainer is a brilliant placer of horses, there's a wonderful and funny rider,
and a bunch of owners getting such a thrill and privilege out of what we call
Australia's horse," said David. Well past midnight in Melbourne, the
city's Federation Square was packed with revellers watching the race on big
screens and they roared their approval as their mare racked up win number 22 in
the most dramatic of circumstances.
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