Criterion has gone on to become the most successful winner of the Black Opal, now this year's champion Takedown has the potential to further increase the status of Canberra's premier race.
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Criterion's stunning win in last weekend's $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000 metres) made the David Hayes and Tom Dabernig-trained entire the greatest Black Opal Stakes winner ever.
Now Canberra Racing will be cheering for Takedown in the group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Takedown is a $6 chance the race for two-year-olds behind $2.80-favourite Pasadena Girl.
The Black Opal improved to group 3 status this year and Canberra Racing chief executive Peter Stubbs was hoping for a group 1 win to consolidate the Black Opal's standing.
The performance of the first four horses home in the Black Opal, both before and after, is used to determine a rating for Canberra's feature race.
Stubbs was confident that would be to at least group 3-level given Takedown won the group 3 Schweppervescence (1400m) and third-placed Antelucan had won the group 3 Emirates Airline Plate (1000m).
The Black Opal would need to rate at group-2 level for three consecutive years to be elevated. Takedown is going for his fourth straight win.
"Certainly we'd be hoping that Takedown can win on Saturday at group 1 level and that'll certainly help our rankings going forward," Stubbs said.
"I'm not sure that will necessarily take us to group 2 level just on that performance, it's a two-to-three-year process, so it's a little way away yet to be getting too excited about it."
Criterion has recorded three group 1 wins since claiming the Black Opal in 2013 for then-trainer David Payne, amassing almost $5.7 million in prizemoney.
The son of Sebring is currently cooling his hooves in Hong Kong ahead of running in the group 1 QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on April 26.
Payne said he always knew Criterion would get better with age, unsurprised by the progress that has seen him add the Queen Elizabeth to wins in the group 1 Rosehill Guineas (1600m) and ATC Derby (2400m).
"We always thought he was going to be a late maturer. He was always a very immature two-year-old and he was doing that just on raw ability," Payne said. "He was a gangly teenager and we always knew he was going to be a better three- and four-year-old."
Meanwhile, Canberra Racing will have a $50,000 Inglis bonus on its two-year-old handicap (1000m) to be run on May 29.
The Lightning Ridge Plate (1000m) was won by a non-eligible horse, so the bonus wasn't paid out and the Inglis Sales have decided reinvest the money in a new race - effectively making it a $66,000 race.
