Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (Group 1)

HOME Affairs booked his ticket to Royal Ascot with an impressive win against the older horses in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. Under set-weights over five furlongs, the Coolmore-owned I Am Invincible colt took advantage of the interference sustained by his stablemate and race favourite Nature Strip to mix it with the early pace before taking over just past half-way.

Slipped some rein at the 400 metres, Home Affairs found, despite being there to be run down, as Nature Strip and Eduardo bore down on the colt.

Under urgent riding by James McDonald, Home Affairs showed maturity beyond his age to dig in right to the line and deny the unlucky Nature Strip by a nose as Eduardo kept on for third a length and a half away.

Superstar

“It was a stressful situation that last 100 metres but both horses went down fighting,” said McDonald. “He’s an absolute superstar my colt and he knows how to fight. The first half didn’t really go to plan, he was just left there, left a sitting duck, and for him to show that much fighting quality and determination and speed is just unbelievable.”

The unlucky runner of the race was Nature Strip who was knocked sideways out of the gates by Profiteer who then veered towards the rail nearly bringing down The Inferno also. “He was very impressive,” said Nature Strip’s jockey Jamie Kah. “He got wiped out at the start and wasn’t entitled to run like that. He was very brave.”

Trainer Chris Waller lamented the interference Nature Strip suffered: “… not only did he get one knock, he then got sandwiched as well, so for him to recover and run so close, I think it makes it disappointing for the connections but great for the horse.”

Waller was impressed with Home Affairs. “Home Affairs, it was a bit of a gamble bringing him here today. He raced against the young horses and dominated last preparation and now he’s come back and beaten the best at weight-for-age. So it’s pretty exciting.”

Home Affairs now looks set to tackle the handicap conditions of the Newmarket on March 5th as Chris Waller was diverting attention away from Royal Ascot. “At this stage I am talking up racing in Australia and we’ll get the autumn out of the way then see about how tough we are on taking on the world,”, he said.