A dead track and unprecedented sell-out crowd await Black Caviar when she seeks to create an Australasian record by winning Saturday’s Sportingbet Classic in Adelaide.
Some 30,000 spectators have snapped up all available tickets for the Morphettville meeting to watch the record attempt.
Black Caviar will set a record of 20 consecutive metropolitan wins if she wins Saturday’s Group One race over 1200 metres.
Showers are forecast for Saturday, with rain all week in Adelaide making a dead track rating likely.
But Black Caviar has won nine of her 19 races on dead tracks, with trainer Peter Moody unfazed by the likely track condition.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see a great race day spoilt by weather but she’s a filly that has handled soft ground,” Moody said this week.
“It’s not a major concern.
“The only way I would have any issues on running her is if the surface was unsafe or presented some risk to her long-term, but hopefully that is not the case.”
The South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) has been in overdrive this week to prepare for Black Caviar and the bumper crowd.
The five-year-old is listed as $1.04 favourite to win the $400,000 Sportingbet Classic, with bookies also offering odds on her winning margin.
The glamour mare is being quoted at $1.90 to win by four lengths or more, and $1.90 for less than four lengths or being beaten.
In her 19 wins so far Black Caviar has an average winning margin of just on 3-1/2 lengths.
Black Caviar’s appearance in Adelaide could reap more than $150,000 in memorabilia and merchandise sales at Morphettville.
Some 30,000 salmon and black flags will be given to punters at the track with an array of souvenirs including ties, hats and stubbie holders also for sale.
The SA government has also waived any charge for trams, buses and trains for racegoers after establishing a cabinet committee to ensure the Black Caviar meeting ran smoothly.
“Black Caviar will bring a huge national and international spotlight to Adelaide,” SA Premier Jay Weatherill said this week.
