The unbeaten Australian champion Black Caviar has provoked scenes never before witnessed on a British racetrack.
Hours before the first race on the final day of the country’s showpiece Royal Ascot meeting, a massive Australian contingent has gathered to cheer for their hero who is attempting to win her 22nd race from as many starts.
Officials expected around 5,000 Australians to be at the track 40km south-west of London, but estimates are being revised by the hour.
They are anticipating their biggest fifth-day crowd in more than 100 years.
Julie Stevens from Melbourne came to the track with a group of 10 friends living in London.
“My Dad has been telling me all about Black Caviar so I got some Aussie friends together to come and cheer her on,” she said.
“It looks like every Aussie in Britain is here.”
The enthusiasm far exceeds that of day one of the meeting at which the local star Frankel, the world’s highest rated racehorse, scored an 11-length victory and took his record to 11-from-11.
Women in dresses in the salmon and black spots of Black Caviar’s silks swamped the lawns, men in matching ties carried Black Caviar placards that are being given away and bookies are being flooded with money for the mare who is a 1-6 favourite for the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m).
Several bookmakers had signs declaring they would accept Australian dollars.
Bookmaking firm Coral has cut its odds on a five-length-plus Black Caviar victory from 5-2 to 2-1 and needed extra staff to write the tickets.
Black Caviar parties are also underway Australia, the biggest of them in Melbourne’s Federation Square where the race will be shown on a big screen.
The Diamond Jubilee is scheduled to run at 12:45am Eastern Australian time Sunday.
