Wesley Ward targets Black Caviar Lightning with Breeders’ Cup winner Bacio

Wesley Ward plans to send Bacio to Flemington for the $1 million Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning after the three-year-old won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint by two lengths at Keeneland on October 31.

“We have a big plan to go to Australia for the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes on February 13 and I’m really looking forward to that,” Ward told Racing Post.

The colt by Maclean’s Music made the running under Juan Hernandez and ran 1:02.11 for the 5½ furlongs (1100m) on firm turf, beating Cy Fair, with 2024 winner Starlust a neck away in third.

Bacio has now won six of his seven starts, a record that includes the Group 1 Nunthorpe at York in August, where Starlust was also among those he beat.

Ralph Beckett said he would consider Australia for Starlust, the son of Zoustar who stood his first southern hemisphere season at Riverstone Lodge in the Hunter Valley in 2025, covering 102 mares, before returning to training.

“He got stopped a bit in the run and probably would have been second with a clear passage. He’s run a huge race and I’m chuffed to bits with him. We’ll think about Australia with him now. Flat races around a bend clearly suit him best,” Beckett said.

The Lightning is run over 1000 metres down the Flemington straight at weight-for-age.