Champion racehorses are always an asset to the game.
Whenever the likes of Black Caviar come around they build such a public following they transcend the sport and put racing into the mainstream public consciousness, for all the right reasons.
The only downside of such stand outs is that they are so good they can frighten off the opposition so much their races become barely competitive.
When Black Caviar essayed 1400 metres for the only time in her career in the CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield in the summer of 2012 she had eight rivals, but, in reality, it was a walkover for her in front of a much larger than usual crowd attracted by the chance to see the wonder mare.
Sure, she faced some very handy gallopers, including group 1 winners Efficient (Melbourne Cup) Southern Speed (Caulfield Cup) and Playing God (Kingston Town Classic) but they were effectively middle-distance horses or stayers having a pipe-opener for longer tests later in the summer and autumn.
There might not be any superstars - as yet - on display in this year's CF Orr Stakes, but no one can say that the 1400-metre test, the first group 1 race of the year, is anything but ultra-competitive.
A full field of 18 was declared for the $600,000 contest, with 13 of them having won at the elite level either in open company or against their own age and sex.
When the favourite - Darren Weir's Lucky Hussler - is quoted at $4.40 in a weight-for-age race it is obviously an open affair.
The Orr is just one of a number of difficult races for punters who will be not only seeking to back a winner on Saturday but find plenty of clues for the rest of the Melbourne summer/early autumn carnival, which clicks into top gear this weekend, and the Sydney autumn classics that lie ahead in March and April.
Mick Price already has the favourite for the Blue Diamond in last week's impressive Caulfield scorer Extreme Choice, but the fact that champion jockey Damien Oliver, successful aboard the son of Not A Single Doubt, has not yet committed for the $1.5 million scamper until he rides stable companion Flying Artie is significant.
The latter, second on debut at Flemington in the spring, takes on a strong field in the colts' and geldings' Blue Diamond Prelude on Saturday's card - although Sydney star Defcon has been scratched - while a number of promising types also go around in the fillies' Prelude half an hour earlier.
Punters will also be able to get a line on the fitness of Victoria Derby winner Tarzino, who steps out in the Autumn Stakes (group 2, 1400 metres) where the hugely progressive Mahuta, from the Darren Weir stable, will try to make it six on end.
Whatever he does here, Tarzino, also from the Price yard, will be better when the distances get longer and he has a run under his belt.
Top mare Politeness resumes in the Rubiton Stakes where she is expected to be coming home hard against a number of rivals who have been on the go during the summer and have a fitness, if not a class, edge.
