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Sussex worth £1 million if Frankel, Black Caviar clash QIPCO, the sponsor of the Group 1 Sussex Stakes on August 1 at Goodwood, is offering to boost the purse of the one-mile test to £1 million if the world's top two horses -- the unbeaten pair of Frankel and Black Caviar -- clash. Such a showdown would make the "Glorious Goodwood" meeting live up to its name. 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 a remarkable 19 races, Black Caviar is the darling of Australian racing who is due to be campaigned in Europe this summer. The Sussex, currently worth £300,000, looms as the likeliest potential spot for the two superstars to meet. Frankel ranks as the defending champion, and trainer Sir Henry Cecil has mentioned it as a logical target if he decides to keep him at a mile. That could be the rub, though, as Cecil plans to tackle 1 1/4 miles with him at some point this season. Although sprint sensation Black Caviar has yet to step up to a mile, trainer Peter Moody has indicated that she should stay the trip, and previously talked out loud about the idea of possibly trying the Sussex. Black Caviar's proposed objectives in England are the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot on June 23 and the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket on July 14. Sheikh Fahad al Thani, who oversees the running of QIPCO Holding with his brothers, is doing his part to make this mouth-watering clash happen. "In their respective home countries, Frankel and Black Caviar have ignited levels of public interest matched only by true champions of the past," Sheikh Fahad said. "The sport is blessed to have two such outstanding horses competing at the same time, and consequently we felt it would be remiss not to make every effort to try to bring about the race everyone wants to see. The Sussex Stakes is arguably the only realistic chance of the two horses meeting, and we are delighted to make the gesture of increasing the prize fund to £1 million as an incentive to the connections of both horses to run at Goodwood." Moody gave his initial reaction to Sky Sports News on Thursday. "It's a great initiative from the sponsors, and it's certainly something we will consider strongly," Moody suggested. "This mare has raced in races we thought were best suited to her through her whole career, and the million wouldn't sway us. If we thought she was in good form and ready to go, we would consider it. We've always thought strongly she would handle 1600 meters (about a mile), if not 2,000, but she is such a hulk of a mare, so whether she would cope with the training for that, is more of a concern than the race. "We are fortunate in that we have a lot of big-money contests in Australia that she is eligible to run in and, if we did keep her in Britain after Royal Ascot, we would miss a lot of those at our spring carnival, so there is lots to consider," Moody added. "Neither Frankel nor Black Caviar will probably meet outside of our comfort zones. We don't have a great need to meet Frankel, but don't read that as us being afraid of him. It would be great for the sport, but not detrimental to either horse if it didn't happen. "She would have to come through both races (the Diamond Jubilee and July Cup) really well to consider it. She is back in training and getting ready to run in four weeks' time; she will probably have two prep runs before Royal Ascot. We think we may be meeting inferior opposition in Britain, but against that we are having to travel three-quarters of the way around the world." Adam Waterworth, managing director of Goodwood Racecourse, relishes the thought of hosting such a battle. "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," Waterworth said. "A meeting between Frankel and Black Caviar in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes at this year's Glorious Goodwood Festival would be the international racing event of the year, and we are very grateful to Sheikh Fahad and QIPCO for their commitment which may make it a reality."
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