THOROUGHBRED

BLACK CAVIAR - The closest thing to Phar Lap that racing has had in a century still has a long way to go to rewrite the record books.

" She is the best horse I have ever seen,' says Robbie Waterhouse. " She is the best in the world, I have no doubt about it. "

She is Australia's top sporting star of the present day. But can she match Phar Lap's record. Black Caviar has won seven times at group 1 level, which is a long way from the Australian leader, Kingston Town, which chalked up 14 wins in the 1980s.

It is a record that could fall to the freakish daughter of Bel Esprit. Another in her sights would be stakes wins, which takes in all four levels of the group system (groups 1-3 and listed). It is held by Sunline at 28 wins, Black Caviar sits on 16 and could move into the 20s by year's end if her winning streak continues.

The likelihood of that is extremely high, says Vince Accardi. 'Her average [time rating] is 12 lengths faster than standard,' Accardi says. 'I have never seen anything like it. I have a 15-year database and there is nothing on it that compares to her. The best example of how good she is, is Takeover Target, who was a great sprinter. His best rating was 11.7 lengths better than standard. She does that every time she races.' He clocked Black Caviar 19.47mps during her Newmarket win last year. I don't think it is possible for a horse to go faster than 19.5mps, if you can find one I would like to see it,' he said. "The thing that is extraordinary about her is her ability to hold high speed. Horses can run in the high 18s but they very quickly fatigue and drop off because they are basically overexerting themselves. The Newmarket last year was the day we saw how good she might be because it was 17.3 lengths better than standard, which is the highest performance I have on record. She went 19.42, 19.47, 18.78 for three sections in a row, I have never seen that before. But she does it regularly."

Black Caviar has never been beyond 1200m but steps up to 1400m in the Orr Stakes. She is expected to win. Accardi's numbers say it will be a formality. But he has gone further and measured her against the 20 best 1400m races in the past decade in Australia.

" No horse has been able to run her numbers,' he said. 'I believe it wouldn't be a worry for her to keep winning at 1400m and even a mile, given her pattern. My model has her potentially about seven lengths better than the average of those 20 races, which is amazing. Black Caviar possesses a potent mix of speed and endurance that staggers the experts."

Waterhouse has a different system, he favours stride length. He has estimated Black Caviar's stride to be beyond eight metres.

" Horses can have a giant stride and still be slow," Waterhouse says. "But for a big horse, she is light on her feet. She seems to do it effortlessly and be in contact with the ground for less time than other horses. I measured her strides in the Newmarket win and she took 12, 12, 13, 13 in the last 400m in 100m sections. The horses chasing her, Crystal Lily and Beaded, took 13.5, 13.5, 14, 15. That's a massive difference, she took six less strides to cover the same distance. She is just not fatiguing like her rivals. In the T.J. Smith, she went 12, 13, 12, 13 and Hay List, which is a great sprinter, was 13, 14, 15, 15.'

Black Caviar has been able to concentrate on sprints, not racing beyond 1200m, because of increased prizemoney. In the past, great sprinters have had to stretch out to 1600m to earn the big bucks.

Black Caviar has been able to earn more than $4.5 million in her 17 starts. It is impressive but still $10 million shy of the record amount three time Melbourne Cup heroine Makybe Diva banked in her career.

Makybe Diva won 15 races but the race that stops the nation swelled her stakes by $8.4 million, making the prizemoney record another that appears out of reach for Black Caviar.

Black Caviar will meet eight rivals when she chases win No. 18, this time over 1400m at Caulfield.

She will attract a nationwide television audience on the racing channels and on free to air through Channel Nine, and it will be transmitted globally.

" I can only go the numbers from her first up run in the Australia Stakes where she was 12.8 lengths better than standard," Accardi says.

" I would say that makes two or three lengths better than last time she was in work."

That is scary, but her trainer Peter Moody has always said she was getting better