Frankel (near): world's highest rated horse won last year's Sussex Stakes
PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)£1m Sussex clash offered to Frankel and Caviar
A £1 MILLION carrot has been dangled in front of the connections of Frankel and Black Caviar in an attempt to bring the world's two highest-rated horses together in the Qipco Sussex Stakes.
Won last year by Frankel, the 1m Sussex Stakes has a prize fund of £300,000 and the increasingly influential Sheikh Fahad, who sponsors the race, has promised to inject a further £700,000 into the pot if the two unbeaten stars line up at Goodwood on August 1.
The prospects of Frankel and Black Caviar clashing are likely to be determined by the programmes the pair are set, with a 1m2f campaign the idea for Frankel while Black Caviar is yet to race beyond 7f.
Should Frankel fail to stay, he could be dropped back to 1m while Black Caviar's trainer Peter Moody has previously stated his openness to races for his mare after she runs inthe Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Black Caviar: trainer open to options after Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot
PICTURE: Getty Images"I'm not sure if [meeting Frankel] will come off, but I'm quite bullish about it," Moody had told the Australian media in February. "I'm sure there will be plenty of overtures once we get to England and we'll look at them then."
Frankel's trainer Sir Henry Cecil has also said that the Sussex Stakes would be the most probable race for the pair to meet in and Sheikh Fahad believes the two can be tempted into competing.
He said: "In their respective home countries, Frankel and Black Caviar have ignited levels of public interest matched only by true champions of the past. 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 £1m as an incentive to the connections of both horses to run at Goodwood."
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