Round 5 in the Black Caviar/Hay List rivalry now revolves around the unbeaten mare taking her place in Saturday’s Coolmore Lightning Stakes after the New South Wales sprinter was confirmed as a starter in the $750,000 Group 1 at Flemington.
Part-owner Katie Davenport revealed that that trainer John McNair and jockey Glyn Schofield had given approval for the robust speedster to take his place in the 1000-metre scamper.
Although an acceptor, there was a chance the son of Statue Of Liberty would dodge Black Caviar, who has relegated Hay List to the Group 1 runner-up stall on three occasions.
“We’ve all been waiting for the green light from Glyn and John before we could start getting too excited, but we’ve got that now so I think everyone in the Davenport family is starting to get pretty jittery about Saturday,” Davenport said.
All that is now needed for the next instalment in Australian racing’s biggest rivalry is confirmation that Black Caviar will run. Trainer Peter Moody will wait until scratching time on Saturday before confirming her place in the race but the odds are firmly in favour of her starting.
A Lightning Stakes clash would be the fifth time Hay List and Black Caviar have met with last year’s Lightning one of three Group 1 races during 2011 in which he beat home all bar Black Caviar.
Their first clash came in the 2010 Patinack Farm Classic, but Hay List was not at his best that day and finished second last.
But with Black Caviar dropping back from the 1400m of last week’s Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes, the Hay List camp think this could be their best chance to beat the mare.
They won’t be leaving anything to chance and are quite happy to play the role of villain should they end Black Caviar’s unbeaten run at 18 races.
“Glyn is very happy with him and John is extremely happy with him,” Davenport said on RSN. “We know the horse we’ve got and we’re all really confident with how he’s going, but you can only run your own race.
“You’ve got to be in it to win and that’s what we’ll be doing on Saturday. We’ve all got our good luck charms ready, we’re a very superstitious family, so we will be hoping for a massive upset which will no doubt upset a massive crowd at Flemington.”
