A GENUINE challenger for super mare Black Caviar may have emerged when the Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed made a triumphant return to the track in the John Dillon Stakes at Caulfield yesterday, reports The Age. It says: Southern Speed races next in the Orr Stakes at Caulfield in 15 days where Black Caviar will have her first try at 1400 metres. But while Southern Speed trainer Leon Macdonald said his mare may have improved further from the spring where she famously beat a record number of i
A GENUINE challenger for super mare Black Caviar may have emerged when the Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed made a triumphant return to the track in the John Dillon Stakes at Caulfield yesterday, reports The Age.
It says: Southern Speed races next in the Orr Stakes at Caulfield in 15 days where Black Caviar will have her first try at 1400 metres. But while Southern Speed trainer Leon Macdonald said his mare may have improved further from the spring where she famously beat a record number of international horses in the Caulfield Cup, he was reluctant to label her as Black Caviar's major hurdle this autumn.
''I doubt it,'' he said when asked if Southern Speed could deliver Black Caviar's first defeat. ''I'll be happy to run a nice second, but look, that was a great effort today. She had 60 kilograms over a short trip [1400m], but he [jockey Craig Williams] sat up on her at the end. It was a really good win.''
Southern Speed is on track for a tilt at the Australian Cup in March and then BMW in Sydney in April. (www.theage.com.au)