The countdown begins!

Black Caviar remains in unstoppbale form Down Under as the Flat season begins in the UK.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

As Black Caviar wins again in Australia, the Flat season kicks off at Doncaster this afternoon, though with freezing temperatures and snow forecast overnight, tomorrow’s card may well be lost to the unseasonably cold weather.

It’s a slow burn at the start of the Flat season until mid-April, when the trials for the QIPCO 2000 and 1000 Guineas take place at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting and Newbury’s Greenham Meeting.

Then it’s all systems go for the first two Classics at Newmarket on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May, each of which will boast a record £400,000 in prize money this year, as the 2013 QIPCO British Champions Series starts with a bang.

In the inaugural year, Frankel ignited the touchpaper with his breath-taking victory in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, while last year it was the much-vaunted Camelot’s turn en route to his subsequent Investec Derby success.

This year the focus is likely to be the unbeaten pair of Irish raiders, Dawn Approach and Kingsbarns, both of whom are currently likely to line up in the first colt’s Classic.

One horse to watch out for at Doncaster this afternoon is Model Pupil in the Doncaster Shield at 2.30pm. Hopes are high that he could make an impact in the Long Distance division this year which starts with the Yorkshire Cup at York on Friday 17 May.

Meanwhile this morning (UK time), the awesome Aussie mare Black Caviar stormed to yet another facile victory – the 24th of her unbeaten career and her 14th Group 1 triumph, equalling the Australian record set by Kingston Town between 1979 and 1982 – at Moonee Valley in Melbourne.

Might she make a return trip to Royal Ascot in June to light up the sprint division of the QIPCO British Champions Series? 

It’s starting to look more and more likely, with a covering by Frankel in Newmarket afterwards also very much on the agenda.