Top 5 Black Caviar Lightning Winners

The Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) sees the sprinters scorch down the Flemington straight track and has been won by some champion gallopers over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Black Caviar Lightning winners since 2000.

In modern times, the feature race has been taken out by some outstanding gallopers.

Top 5 Black Caviar Lightning winners.

1. BLACK CAVIAR (2011, 2012, 2013)

Impossible to go past Black Caviar as the best winner of the Lightning Stakes since 2000 given that she won the race on three occasions and it is now known as the ‘Black Caviar Lightning’. She defeated Hay List in the first of those wins and that horse would have been regarded as a champion in any other era, while her third win in this event came just one week after taking out the CF Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield. Unbeaten in 25 starts, Black Caviar won every major sprint in Australia and defeated the worlds best at Royal Ascot in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200), despite racing with a back injury in that race.

2. TAKEOVER TARGET (2006)

The $1375 purchase is one of the more amazing stories of Australian racing. Trained and owned by Joe Janiak, a taxi driver from Queensland, Takeover Target did not make it to a racetrack until his four-year-old days due to early injuries but won Group 1 races every season until he was nine and went on to claim over $6 million in prizemoney, not a bad return given the initial outlay. His Black Caviar Lightning win came in 2006 but his crowning moment came when he took out the Kings Stand Stakes (1005m), defeating the worlds best at Royal Ascot. The champion won 21 of 41 with eight of those coming at the highest level.

3. CHAUTAUQUA (2016)

In true Chautauqua fashion, the flashy grey came from the clouds to defeat Terravista in the 2016 version of this race. He loved to settle back and produced many just as amazing come-from-behind performances in a number of his wins, including his three in the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m). He was a winner in Hong Kong, picking up the Chairmans Sprint (1200m) in 2016 and retired with six Group 1 wins to his credit.

4.APACHE CAT (2008)

The baldy faced galloper was an eight-time Group 1 winner with the first of those coming in the 2006 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington in a stirring duel down the straight ahead of Darci Brahma. He was tried over longer trips in the spring that year but could only manage 7th in the Cox Plate behind Fields Of Omagh. The Greg Eurell-trained galloper developed into a serious sprinter later on and it was his win in the Black Caviar Lightning in 2008 that kick-started the back-half of his career. He had an exceptional 2008 season and knocked over Takeover Target in the TJ Smith Stakes before claiming the BTC Cup (1200m) and the Doomben 10000 (1350m) in Brisbane.

5. MISS ANDRETTI (2007)

One of the better sprinters that Australia has produced, Miss Andretti took out the Black Caviar Lightning in 2007 ahead of Magnus and was the best sprinter of her generation. Starting out in Perth, she was transferred to the Lee Freedman stables in 2006 and went on to record a famous victory at Royal Ascot. She is the only Australian horse to have ever held five track records simultaneously.

FREE FLEMINGTON BETTING TIPS

Follow the link to find our free Flemington horse racing tips for Saturday and best bets for each and every meeting. Our Flemington tipster previews each meeting and highlights a Best Bet, Next Best & Best Value.