CLOCK STOPPER

It’s worth noting that Black Caviar’s TJ Smith victory – on a surface rated as Dead – was just 0.39 seconds outside of the course record set of 1:08.32 set by Northern Meteor in the Brian Crowley Stakes-LR 29 months ago.
It was however a race record and while the TJ Smith is fairly ‘new’ (Saturday was its seventh renewal as a Group One), the previous winners include Melito (2 G1s), Takeover Target (9 G1s), Apache Cat (8 G1s), Bentley Biscuit (3 G1s), Red Oog (2 G1s) and Shamekha (3 G1s). Spinning Hill – who won the race two years prior to its Group One elevation – was a 3-time Group One winner, while Mahogany (winner in 1997 when it was known as the Endeavour Stakes) finished his career with 8 Group Ones.