Black Caviar ran 15 pounds below her rating in Diamond Jubilee

Black Caviar returns in triumph after her narrow victory in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Aussie sprinting star Black Caviar ran 15 pounds below her official rating in Australia – the equivalent of five lengths in a sprint – when narrowly winning Saturday’s six-furlong Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the last of seven QIPCO British Champions Series races run at Royal Ascot last week.

The British Horseracing Authority handicappers have given her a performance rating of 117 which puts her in third place in the Series Sprint table, behind the one-two in Tuesday’s five-furlong King’s Stand Stakes, Little Bridge, who ran to 120, and Bated Breath, who clocked 118.

Black Caviar’s official rating going into the race was 132,  but considering she was found to have pulled muscles in her back afterwards, she put up an extremely gutsy performance to maintain her unbeaten career record which now stretches to 22 races.

Had her jockey, Luke Nolen, not tried to coast home on the final run to the winning line, she would have beaten French raiders Moonlight Cloud (115) and Restiadargent (114) by more than a head and a neck, something that the handicappers have taken into account in giving her a performance rating two pounds higher than that awarded to Moonlight Cloud.

Colour Vision ran to his official rating of 117 when winning the Gold Cup on Thursday from stablemate Opinion Poll (116), while Fallen For You also ran to 117 when running away with Friday’s Coronation Stakes, a dramatic improvement on her official rating going into the race of 108.

These three races made no impact on the top performers overall in the Series to date, with Frankel towering above four Aidan O’Brien-trained horses disputing second and third places.

“After one of the most memorable weeks in Flat racing, we are now exactly half-way through the 30 Series races which lead up to QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on 20 October and Frankel remains utterly dominant on the equine side,” said British Champions Series Chief Executive, Rod Street.

“Next up is the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on Saturday week when So You Think must have a great chance of enhancing his rating and going top of the Middle Distance table in his last race before retiring to stud.

“If he wins, Aidan and Joseph O’Brien will strengthen their grip on the trainer and jockey tables in which, despite a number of setbacks last week, they currently remain well clear.”

To view the latest tables, CLICK HERE.