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FOOD AND BEVERAGE OUTLETSCelebrating the Timeless Legacy of Black Caviar.
The first Group 1 race day of 2025 kicked off with the electrifying Black Caviar Lightning Race Day.
We paid homage to the extraordinary legacy of Black Caviar, whose remarkable career comprised 25 undefeated races, including 15 Group 1s. The feature race was taken home by Skybird in an incredible ride under John Allen.
Saturday 15 February, 2025
Registered Name: VRC Lightning Stakes
Prizemoney: $1,005,185
Standard Weight for Age, Apprentices cannot claim.
Maidens at time of entry are ineligible.
Race History
BLACK CAVIAR (Bel Esprit - Helsinge) (2006-2024)
The awe-inspiring, world-class mare Black Caviar broke records and set new standards. Undefeated, her career of 25 wins from 25 starts (24 in Group or Listed races) is unparalleled in modern racing history. Trained by Peter Moody, she was ridden mostly by Luke Nolen including in the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Foaled in Victoria in 2006, she won eight times at Flemington. In 2013 the VRC re-named the Lightning Stakes in Black Caviar’s honour. She duly won the race a third time, setting a 1000m record. Australia’s greatest sprinter ever, her legacy lives on at Flemington with the running of the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) every year.
Last year's winner - Imperatriz
Registered Name: The Debonair
Prizemoney: $203,285
3YO Colts and Geldings Set Weights plus Penalties, Apprentices cannot claim.
This race carries a VOBIS Silver Nominators Bonus of $10,000 for qualified horses.
Race History
C.S. HAYES (1924–1999)
Colin Sidney Hayes AM OBE was one of the greatest twentieth-century Australian trainers. He was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, holding ‘Legend’ status with T.J. Smith and Bart Cummings. Starting as a trainer modestly at Semaphore, Adelaide, he established Lindsay Park, Angaston, in the 1960s as a showpiece training complex and stud farm, later also training from Flemington. Colin Hayes was multiple times premier trainer in Adelaide and Melbourne. His list of Group 1 successes is vast, including Melbourne Cups with the imported Beldale Ball (1980) and At Talaq (1986).
Last year's winner - Riff Rocket
Prizemoney: $203,285
3YO & Upwards Fillies & Mares Set Weights plus Penalties, Apprentices cannot claim.
Maidens at time of entry are ineligible.
Race History
FRANCES TRESSADY (Tressady (GB) – Thorima)
In the official history of the Victoria Derby dating back to 1855, eleven fillies have won the classic but none since Frances Tressady in 1923. Trained by former top jockey Bill Foulsham and ridden by champion Frank Dempsey, she is the last of nine fillies to have completed the Derby and VRC Oaks double. Between those two runs she finished fifth in the 1923 Melbourne Cup. In total she won just five races, four at Flemington, but had minor placings in many top races including the AJC and VRC St Legers, the Caulfield Guineas and the 1925 AJC Metropolitan.
Last year's winner - Revolutionary Miss
Formerly: March Stakes
Prizemoney: $177,035
Handicap, Apprentices cannot claim.
Maidens at time of entry are ineligible.
All-Star Mile ‘Win and you’re in Race’: The winner of this race qualifies for the 2025 All-Star Mile to be run on Saturday 8 March at Flemington.
Prizemoney: $177,685
2YO Set Weights plus Penalties, Apprentices cannot claim.
This race carries a VOBIS Silver Nominators Bonus of $10,000 for qualified horses.
Race History
TALINDERT
Talindert, near Camperdown in South Western Victoria, was the country property of Sir Chester Manifold (1897-1979), renowned Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club 1951–1962. His father James Chester Manifold conducted a thoroughbred stud farm at Talindert in the 1890s, standing Wellington, a Victoria Derby winner and a great sire of steeplechasers. Sir Chester revived the stud in the 1930s, producing many top racehorses. Talindert was the birthplace of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame steeplechaser Crisp, gallant runner-up to the legendary Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree, England.
Last year's winner - Aardvark
Prizemoney: $177,035
3YO Fillies Set Weights plus Penalties, Apprentices cannot claim.
This race carries a VOBIS Silver Nominators Bonus of $10,000 for qualified horses.
Race History
DESIRABLE (Without Fear (FR) – High Desire (NZ))
As a filly, Desirable was a whirlwind. By Without Fear from High Desire, she holds a special place in racing history as a two-year-old winner of the open VRC Lightning Stakes in 1976. Trained in Adelaide by Colin Hayes, undefeated in her first five stars, Desirable won carrying the minimum weight-for-age burden of just 43kg, ridden by Malcolm Johnson as a young apprentice. She next won the VRC Sires’ Produce, was beaten by stablemate Out Of Danger in the Blue Diamond, ran third to Vivarchi in the Golden Slipper, then won the AJC Sires’ Produce. The next year, at three, she won the Newmarket. Her last win before retiring at four was the Chirnside Stakes at Caulfield.
Last year's winner - Roll On High
Prizemoney: $150,000
Benchmark 90, Handicap, Apprentices can claim.
Prizemoney: $130,000
Benchmark 84 Handicap, Apprentices can claim.
Prizemoney: $130,000
Benchmark 84 Handicap, Apprentices can claim.
Prizemoney: $80,000
Benchmark 78 Handicap, Apprentices can claim.
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