(Rod Gallegos is a senior commentator with Sky Racing and Sky Sports Channel.)

Modern-day powerhouse Black Caviar has, to all intents and purposes, the Group One VRC Newmarket at her mercy on Saturday. Indisputably, she is the best sprinter in Australia and, probably, even the world.

Bookmakers will be hanging onto her tail and hoping for a boilover reminiscent of the Dandy Andy defeat of Vo Rogue and Bonecrusher in the Australian Cup of 1988 or, harking further back, to 1939 and Ajax at 1/40 going under to Spear Chief in the Rawson (now the Ranvet) Stakes at Rosehill.

In reality, from their point of view it seems to be an unachievable aspiration and the four-year-old mare from the Peter Moody camp will extend her unbeaten sequence to a perfect 10 which perfectly sums up this equine glamour girl.

This year's Newmarket may be a blackout for bookies but it should be a bonanza for the VRC. Punters, and racegoers generally, love to hail a champion and there is little doubt that Black Caviar has all of the requisites to be a tremendous draw card.

In fact, it will be a surprise if this Saturday's attendance at Flemington doesn't reach record figures for the time since the Australia Cup was added to the Newmarket program to formulate what is termed Super Saturday.

Maybe this year it should be renamed Super Duper Saturday.

*****

ON the question of crowd pullers, the Canberra Racing Club undoubtedly will be hoping trainer Neville Layt decides to start his speed-to-burn filly, Karuta Queen, in the Black Opal Stakes on Sunday in preference to the Sweet Embrace at Warwick Farm on Saturday.

The unbeaten Karuta Queen has accepted for both and Layt intends to study the respective barrier positions and composition of the two fields to decide which avenue is the most suitable for his fast filly.

From a Canberra point of view, Karuta Queen would be an exciting crowd booster for the Sunday meeting which, inexplicably, has been pitched into an unfortunate head-on clash with the first-round National Rugby League game between the Canberra Raiders and the Cronulla Sharks at the nearby Canberra Stadium.

This is despite the Raiders plea to the powers-that-be that the game should be played on an alternative night. There must not be any punters at the NRL or the associated TV channels.

*****

ONE sad aspect of the Australian Cup is that Zipping won't be in the field. A bump to his leg has ruled him out of a bid to win the race for a second successive year and he may be at the end of the racing road.

Regardless of what he may do in the future, Zipping has been a remarkable racecourse warrior.

His 47 starts have yielded 16 wins and 10 minor placings for $4.5million in stakes. But his Melbourne Cup performances are a measure of his durability because he has contested the gruelling metric two-miler four times and finished fourth three times.

Shadow King holds the record for Melbourne Cup longevity with six starts between 1929 and 1935 and, more recently, Skybeau ran five times for one third placing between 1996 and 2000.

Even if Zipping does call it quits as a nine-year-old, he deserves special mention in the Melbourne Cup almanac.

*****

DESPITE the absence of the popular Zipping, it still looks to be an exceptional day of racing in Sydney and Melbourne this Saturday.

For Super Saturday at Flemington, I like one at good odds in the Australian Cup - the Kiwi galloper, Ginga Dude.

He performed well during the Melbourne spring and should be fitter for two runs since a spell. And he will be well ridden by Michael Walker.

With regard to the Randwick Guineas at Warwick Farm, Ilovethiscity is a short-priced favourite but I reckon the Peter Snowden-trained Skilled may be a serious threat. He is well-performed and likely to have benefitted from recent racing.