Royal by name, regally bred - Prince Of Caviar. - A horse whose sire was high class, a horse whose dam does not really need introduction, but we will talk about her anyway!
Black Caviar… the undefeated sprinting Queen of Australian racing.
Fifteen Group One victories, three times crowned Australian Horse Of The Year, Australian Racing Hall Of Fame inductee, European Champion Sprinter, four times World Champion Sprinter, a Gr.1 race named in her honour, statues at Nagambie and Caulfield… 25 starts, 25 wins, over $7.9 million in stakes.
Each spring the arrival of Black Caviar’s foal is keenly anticipated by not only her owners but by racing fans across Australia and beyond.
The first of those was Oscietra, a city placed two times winner from just eight starts – due this season for a second time to I Am Invincible having produced a colt by him last September.
The second… Prince Of Caviar.
Unfortunately we did not get to see enough of this striking colt on the track but what we did see impressed.
Getting back off a slow start at his Sandown debut for Hawkes Racing, Prince Of Caviar caught the eye charging late to finish a promising fourth, a run that impressed stable and jockey.
“I thought he was tremendous,” Luke Nolen said on the day – “he ended up back on a modest speed in a position where he probably couldn’t win from… but I was really encouraged by the way he rounded it off.”
Wayne Hawkes was also pleased, not only with the performance, but by Prince Of Caviar’s demeanor.
“He’s got a great attitude and I am really happy with what he has done. He saddled up perfectly, came into the yard perfectly; these are the big things trainers look for from an attitude point of view.”
Given a little time, Prince Of Caviar was back at Sandown three months later, finishing a game second to an up-and-comer by the name of Extra Brut, a horse who would go on to win three of his next four starts including the Gr.1 VRC Derby.
Bendigo was next for Prince Of Caviar and with the addition of blinkers he was closer in running, giving a nice kick at the 200m only to be run down late. Again the form held up – the winner Mickey Blue Eyes at his next outing taking out the Listed Dulcify Quality at Randwick.
The breakthrough for Prince Of Caviar came at Bendigo in September 2018 – as an odds-on proved 1¼ lengths too strong for his rivals over 1300m.
And whilst it was a dominant win, it was one from a young horse who had plenty of upside – “he is learning his craft and will derive great benefit from that,” Hawkes said.
“He is still green and did things wrong, he didn’t really know how to put them away. He is going to be a better horse in the autumn and I reckon the form around his maiden runs is going to be pretty good."
“He is going in the right direction and will be a great horse come the autumn,” Nolen added – “he seems like a horse we will end up appreciating for a long time.”
Unfortunately that potential was not to be fulfilled, Prince Of Caviar retired after just two more starts having undergone surgery to resolve the damage caused by a throat infection.
“It was disappointing that his career was cut short,” Nolen said – “he has his mother’s temperament and he is a very nice horse who gave me a good feel.”
Prince Of Caviar is by More Than Ready’s outstanding son Sebring who sadly passed away prematurely early last year. Beaten only once in a six start career, he was Australia’s best two-year-old winning the Gr.1 Golden Slipper Stakes and the Gr.1 Sires Produce Stakes and going so close to Triple Crown glory when only just beaten by Samantha Miss in the Gr.1 Champagne Stakes.
The sire of 60 stakes winners including Australian Horse Of The Year Dissident and fellow big race winners Criterion, Egg Tart, Amphitrite, Lucky Bubbles and Nettoyer, Sebring boasts outstanding statistics with a 67.5% winners-to-runners strike rate and a 6.8% stakes winner ratio.
With progeny earnings in excess of $90 million, Sebring has been well represented by stakes winners in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong. His success follows on from that enjoyed by More Than Ready – Gr.1 winning sire of 203 stakes winners including 24 Group One winners.
Over 28% of Sebring’s stakes winners are out of mares carrying a strain of the legendary Nijinsky II, the sire line from which Black Caviar – daughter of Royal Academy’s outstanding sprinter Bel Esprit hails.
A dual Group One winning sprinter who has eight times been crowned Victorian Champion Stallion, Bel Esprit has sired 27 stakes winners and he is already making his mark as a broodmare sire with nine stakes winners including one of the best horses to ever race in Hong Kong – the eight times Group One winner Beauty Generation.
Prince Caviar is a grandson of the wonderful Desert Sun (sire of the champion Sunline) mare Helsinge, also dam of the four times Group One winning stallion All Too Hard whose Gr.1 Australian Guineas winning son Alligator Blood is one of the most talked about horses in the country.
Already the sire of 16 stakes winners, All Too Hard is one of two successful stallions close up in Prince Of Caviar’s pedigree, the other being the Gr.1 Galaxy winner Magnus – the season just past’s leading Victorian based stallion by earnings.
The sire of 22 stakes winners including the Group One winners Malaguerra, Magnifisio, Streets Of Avalon and Grey Shot, Magnus is another horse boasting great figures including a 68.2% winners-to-runners strike rate.
Two of 2020’s best two-year-olds also hail from Prince Of Caviar’s prolific family – Helsinge’s grandson Ole Kirk winning the Listed Talindert Stakes at debut – going on to a close up and somewhat unlucky third in the Gr.1 Champagne Stakes.
Meanwhile the Gr.3 Blue Diamond Prelude and Listed Blue Diamond Preview winner Hanseatic – who was only just beaten in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes - is a grandson of Helsinge’s half-sister Baltics.
Helsinge’s two times Group winning dam Scandinavia by the Magic Millions hero Snippets produced not only Magnus but also the Group Two winners Wilander and Scandiva and the Listed winner Arctic Flight… whilst her daughter Danavia is dam of the Listed winning sprinter Iconic.
Scandinavia’s dam Song Of Norway – by the legendary Vain – was also a high class broodmare, her 11 winners from as many to race including the stakes winners Midnight Sun, Frosty The Snowman and Russian Tea Room.
What a consistent family this is – Prince Of Caviar’s first four dams between them producing 25 winners from 28 runners, an impressive 89.2% strike rate. And there is plenty of class further back too, his other relations including the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time, the Group winners Muirfield Village, Uxorious and Last Fandango and the Listed winners Soothing, Glad, Exuberant, Kingsfold Flame, Prince Ted, Blue Team and Domino’s Nurse.
Prince Of Caviar retires to Riverbank Farm, Benalla. Standing at a fee of $4,400, he joins a strong and varied roster alongside Boulder City, Redente, Skilled, Anacheeva, Von Costa de Hero, Wayed Zain and Bon Aurum.
For further details contact Russell (0423 768 155) or visit Riverbank at: https://riverbankfarm.com.au/
