Frankel’s standing is enhanced without competing

A vintage Royal Ascot will be remembered for Frankel confirming his status as a horse without equal, the burgeoning rivalry between Ryan Moore and William Buick, and the Queen’s joy at Estimate carrying her regal colours to a famous victory in Diamond Jubilee year.

As the record-breaking Black Caviar plans to return to Australia, her many supporters will point to the fact that she still won the prestigious Diamond Jubilee Stakes after travelling 12,000 miles to contest a six-furlong sprint.

Yet their case that she is the best in the world is undermined by the fact that Black Caviar’s top speed of 41.5mph was inferior to Frankel bursting clear of a top class field in the Queen Mary Stakes and hitting 42.5mph in the penultimate furlong – and when Sir Henry Cecil’s unbeaten colt had no horses to race against.

Indeed, I would even venture that David Simcock’s Dream Ahead – the winner of three top sprints last year under Hayley Turner and William Buick – was a better horse than Black Caviar, despite her unblemished record.

That said, it is to Black Caviar’s credit that she overcame a muscle injury and an embarrassing aberration on the part of her jockey Luke Nolen who briefly stopped riding in the dramatic closing strides when he thought the race was won.

He was left searching for the line with desperation as the French-trained Moonlight Cloud and Restiadargent began to gain and he was just a whisker away from calamity – with James Fanshawe’s Society Rock a fast finishing fourth. If he had not been left trailing by six lengths for the start, the result could have been very different.

No wonder the relief was palpable at Royal Ascot, and in Federation Square, Melbourne, when the photo-finish was confirmed.

The official distance of a head was, by a considerable margin, the closest Black Caviar has sailed to defeat, her astonishing progression through the sprinting ranks having led her to arrive in Britain with the reputation and entourage of a Hollywood star.

Rather than being greeted by an antagonistic, Ashes-style welcome, the six-year-old was cheered upon her arrival in the paddock and sent off a prohibitive 1-6 favourite against 13 rivals.

Nothing had been left to chance – she even had her own stalls handler from Australia, in a salmon and black cap, to ensure there was no mishap.

She looked a little dull in her coat but everything was unfolding according to plan for three-quarters of the six furlongs, at least to the casual viewer, as Black Caviar cruised close to the pace set by Thirsk rider Phil Makin on Bogart, and hit the front one from home.

At this point Black Caviar is usually beyond recall, but as Nolen sat still she began to labour and left the rider cutting a sheepish figure as he returned to a packed-out winner’s enclosure.

The 32-year-old did not admit to mistaking the post, but said: “She wasn’t the same horse she usually is and her determination got her there.

“I under-estimated the testing track of Ascot. She’d had enough and that big engine throttled right down. I let her idle. I thought she’d coast and I made a mistake every apprentice is taught to avoid. It’s unfortunate, because we’re going to talk more about my brain failure than the horse’s fantastic effort.

“She’s 22 from 22 and it doesn’t matter how far she won by, but it was heart-in-mouth sort of stuff. I thought I’d done enough but I did need some confirmation. Imagine if I’d got beat. I’d have probably been stabbed.”

Relieved trainer Peter Moody did not blame Nolen – he had said beforehand, albeit in jest, that he would settle for a win by a whisker. How prophetic.

“You’ve only got to win by a quarter of an inch – we got the job done,” said Moody.

“We never expect dominance – we never ask her for dominance. I’m an extremely proud Aussie. It’s very fitting that it’s with a horse like this.”

Instead, the trainer forwarded another explanation: “It’s always a worry when you’ve come 10,000 miles and I just think she’s had a long season and a long trip, and I’ve said all week the owners were to be congratulated.

“She didn’t travel and you’ve seen her at her lowest ebb. I think it’s her lowest ebb in 10 or 12 races.”

The most touching moment came when Black Caviar was presented to The Queen in the winner’s enclosure and stood dutifully to be patted. Her Majesty was probably too gracious to even think that her mare Estimate had won by five lengths,

It is almost certainly the last time Black Caviar will be seen at the Royal course, although Moody stopped short of announcing her retirement.

“She’ll go into quarantine now, so let’s get her home,” he said before confirming that the muscle damage – Black Caviar did appear lame when galloping past the grandstands – is not career-ending.

In an update yesterday, Moody said: “She is very tender up in her hind-quarters but it is restricted to soft tissue damage. We gave her precautionary X-rays and had her scanned and the vets said everything looked okay on that front. It is the tightest I have seen her after a race, though she has never travelled this far before.”

At least Moody accepted the challenge of sending Black Caviar to Britain – he had little to win and everything to lose – while it is highly improbable that Frankel, now unbeaten in 11 starts, will ever race overseas.

What this does confirm, however, is that Frankel is a worldbeater – even though he does not command the nation’s attention in the way that Australian sport is rescheduled so Black Caviar can enjoy top billing.

Now he is more settled, he could, if connections choose, dominate from six furlongs – the Diamond Jubilee test – to a mile and a half, the distance of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe which remains Europe’s foremost race.

“A good reason for staying alive” was retired racing commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s description of Frankel.

That said, the adulation afforded Frankel on Tuesday was eclipsed by the warmth of the ovation when Estimate won the Queen’s Vase in the Royal colours. The sight of The Queen walking purposefully into the winner’s enclosure, her smile beaming and her entourage struggling to keep up, showed just how fortunate horse racing is to have such a figurehead who appreciates the sport’s challenges from first-hand experience.

She will have understood that Black Caviar’s victory was not a foregone conclusion and that she was fortunate to have one winner – champion jockey Paul Hanagan and Richard Hannon, last season’s leading trainer, were among many top names to leave Berkshire empty-handed at the weekend.

Her Majesty will also have been pleased that Estimate’s jockey Ryan Moore finished the meeting as leading rider with five wins – victory was only secured on countback after he won the final race on Simenon while the aforementioned Buick, needing to finish third, was beaten into fourth place by a neck.

Though disappointed, Buick and his trainer John Gosden would have settled for this after The Nile’s fatal fall on Tuesday. Their time will come.

Racing is rarely predictable – as Nolen, for one, will testify after nearly ending Black Caviar’s supremacy with a riding mishap as memorable as Frankel’s freakishness and the Queen’s diamond day in the limelight.

Roll on next year.