As Black Caviar entered the starter’s gates, trainer Peter Moody lit a cigarette.
By the time he finished the smoke, Black Caviar was a record holder.
Moody watched Black Caviar with the demeanour of a man without a care in the world.
Yes, Moody sometimes ponders about the day Black Caviar will lose a race.
But he was certain it wasn’t going to be on Saturday in the Sportingbet Classic at Adelaide’s Morphettville racecourse.
Black Caviar duly romped in as a winner for the 20th consecutive metropolitan race.
The unbeaten five-year-old mare and jockey Luke Nolen were initially perched just off the pace. Not a worry, reckoned Moody.
“Luke has got great faith in her ability and so have I,” he said.
“I don’t think we ever had too much concern.
“Luke was pretty kind to her – he gave her one little smack on the bum and she did the rest.”
Black Caviar, a mesmerising blend of elegance and brute force, overhauled the field in a twinkling to what Moody described as an “unbelievable” roar from a sell-out 30,000 crowd.
In exactly one minute 10.65 seconds, she had galloped to a 4-1/2-length win despite being eased down nearing the line.
Black Caviar, who started at $1.05, the shortest-priced Group One favourite in half a century, then paraded like she knew she was special.
“She knows she is something different,” Moody said.
Nolen, who has ridden Black Caviar to 17 of her 20 wins, took the glamour mare along the home straight to the rapture of the crowd.
Most were waving Black Caviar flags, or wearing Black Caviar caps, or drinking from a Black Caviar stubbie holder.
Some, like South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, sported a salmon and black-spotted tie – Caviar colours – and there were babies dressed in mini Black Caviar silks.
“I hope you enjoyed the show,” Moody said.
“She is one hell of a horse, isn’t she.”
