Caviar on the menu

Opinion Poll was fantastic finishing second again in the Gold Cup. It is up to debate whether he would have won had he not been bumped by stable companion Colour Vision, but he ran the race expected of him. That he was evens for a Place was just too good a deal to bypass.

The Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday is the race everyone, particularly in Australia, is waiting for, as Black Caviar takes on the world. All the bulletins are favourable from the trainer and connections. She will be opposing a modest and clearly inferior bunch of English sprinters. If she doesn't win here, there is every reason to question the hype behind her. But she will win. Soft ground or not. If the likes of Choisir, Takeover Target, Starspangledbanner etc have won here, she should do so too because she's at least 5 lengths better. There are no likes of Silent Witness, Rocket Man, Overdose, Marchand d'Or or JJ The Jet Plane here, who at their best could have given her a race. An easy Win recommendation to lump on.

Win: Black Caviar

Cartier Awards - Goldikova is the Queen, but where is Harbinger?

The Cartier Racing Awards rewarding the best European horses, came out this week, and for the most part I agree with the winners. Goldikova being Horse of the Year and Champion Older Horse makes sense. The mare was and is simply sensational. As I look down the list of winners, I can't see any mention of Harbinger, this year's highest-rated horse (rated135, 6 pounds more than the second one at 129!). How can that be? If Starspangledbanner is top Sprinter, and Rite of Passage is top Stayer, shouldn't there be a category for top Middle-Distance horse? It seems to me that since the middle-distances are the most sought-after races in Europe, it is a serious omission not to have an award for the best horse at those distances. The fact that this year, it happens to also be the highest-rated horse in the world makes this omission most glaring. Oh well, not that this would affect the horse's stud value, or connections' pockets, I suppose.