THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - RACING IS ENJOYING THE RIDE ON THE BACK OF A CHAMPION

By Graham Potter | Sunday, February 24, 2013

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

Every sport needs its champion.

Peter Moody’s decision to firstly bring Black Caviar back into work and then to press on with a racing schedule ensures that, all being well, Australian racing can tick that box for the next three months at least.

Black Caviar’s return to action last week produced an exhilarating, record breaking performance on the track. Away from the one-sided combat, the level of pre-race fanfare and post-race celebration again reached proportions only prompted by the extraordinary.

Of course, Black Caviar and her team have seen all that before, but it is no less important each time it happens.

In essence, while it is a goal that only a rare few achieve, the success of a champion like Black Caviar puts an exclamation mark behind the most consistent reason why owners take up ownership, while trainers do the hard yards and why jockeys waste to give themselves the option to get the best rides.

Everybody is in search of a champion and the beauty of the game is nobody … I repeat nobody … can tell you where the next one is coming from.

Thus it is that the core of racing is built on optimism and dreams … and that emotion is buoyed by the fact that, with racing being a game of chance, anybody can strike gold, even those who don’t have the budget of the big spenders … even those who can only afford unfashionably bred horses … even a small hobby trainer who buys a cheap, unwanted horse while still working as a taxi driver.

Black Caviar is proof of the fact that the dream, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against it, is attainable and the kick-along that racing gets from that realisation is enormous.

When a horse reaches the stature that Black Caviar has attained, if handled correctly, it is also a gift to racing’s future. (No over-eighteen only meetings please!)

What better chance is there to ignite the flame of enthusiasm for racing in children than for their parents to let them experience first-hand the excitement, the vibe, the power, the majesty and the beauty of what will always be the pinnacle of the racing product … a champion racehorse!

For Queenslanders hopefully there will be one more chance to take advantage of this positive situation.

While Moody has been at pains to point out, so that there can be no misunderstanding, that Black Caviar’s schedule is a race-by-race proposition at this time, he has also repeatedly stated that he would love to see her complete an east coast tour into the Winter months, with Brisbane possibly being pencilled in for a run in May.

Given the emphatic nature of her return the Black Caviar camp will undoubtedly be courted from all corners of the globe, most notably from those who host the Royal Ascot meeting.

Ascot supposedly is not on the agenda, but plans can change.

If you can’t travel outside the state to see the mighty mare, all you can do if you are a racing enthusiast in Queensland is trust that Black Caviar remains well, that temptations are resisted and that the original plan of an east coast tour brings her to Brisbane.

That might be three months away but, if that happens, make sure you get to see her somehow, somewhere in the flesh, either in training or at the races.

Diarise May 11 now. That’s her likely start date (in the BTC Cup) is she gets here.

Oh yes … and bring the kids. The future of racing could depend on it.

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