Brilliant Black Caviar Wins Again

THE brilliant Black Caviar (Peter Moody/Luke Nolen) duly won again as she cut back in trip to 5f at Flemington on Saturday - but the Lightning Stakes was a rarity for the mare as she was made to work for a victory that equalled the Australasian city record of 19 consecutive wins.

Only a week after a bloodless victory on her first start at 7f in the CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield, the five-year-old won her ninth Group 1 contest back at the minimum in the nation's premier 1,000-metre event, which is also the first leg in the Global Sprint Challenge.

However, on this occasion Black Caviar was forced to work for her victory after she traded blows in the A$750,000 (£510,000) contest with old rival Hay List (gave 2kg), a top-class sprinter in his own right.