Goodwood racecourse boss Adam Waterworth has spoken of his great hope that the two best racehorses in the world – unbeaten duo Frankel and Black Caviar – could do battle in the 2012 Sussex Stakes.
QIPCO and Goodwood are bidding to stage a hugely-anticipated clash between the two unbeaten stars of international flat racing.
But many in racing believe that, by July, Frankel will be running in races longer than Goodwood’s one-mile contest.
With a total of 28 victories from 28 runs between them, Frankel and Black Caviar are officially the two highest-rated horses in the world.
In 2011 Frankel established himself as the champion in Europe with a series of scintillating performances.
Meanwhile, in an unbeaten run stretching to 19 races, Black Caviar is the darling of Australian racing who is due to run in Europe this summer.
Sponsors QIPCO Holding have offered to increase the prize money for the QIPCO Sussex Stakes to £1m should both Black Caviar and Frankel line up for the prestigious Group One mile race on Wednesday, August 1, day two of Glorious. The prize fund is currently £300,000.
Sheikh Fahad Al Thani has been instrumental in the efforts to make it happen. With his brothers, he oversees the running of QIPCO Holding.
Mindful of the fact the QIPCO Sussex Stakes represents arguably the best opportunity for Frankel and Black Caviar to face each other, the prize-money increase is aimed at stimulating even greater interest in the prospective contest.
The opportunity to stage the race in which Frankel and Black Caviar do battle is an exciting prospect for Waterworth, managing director of the racecourse.
The prospect of the Frankel-Black Caviar clash was raised on Twitter by Observer sports editor Steve Bone in February.
Waterworth said: “In 2011, we witnessed the Duel on the Downs between Frankel and Canford Cliffs, which generated a huge amount of publicity and was a great success for us and QIPCO.
“A meeting between Frankel and Black Caviar in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes at this year’s Glorious Goodwood would be the international racing event of the year and we’re very grateful to Sheikh Fahad and QIPCO for their commitment which may make it a reality.”
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Frankel’s owner, Khalid Abdullah, admitted longer races could be on Frankel’s schedule.
He added: “If we were to stay at a mile, then running in the Sussex Stakes is a possibility, but I’m afraid the extra prize money is not going to influence any decisions, even though it is a very generous gesture by QIPCO and Goodwood.”
Black Caviar’s trainer Peter Moody said: “It’s a great initiative from the sponsors and it’s certainly something we will consider strongly.”
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