Canberra Racing chief executive Andrew Clark will take quality over quantity every day of the week.
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With four group 1 winners to come out of the Black Opal Stakes in the past seven years he thinks Thoroughbred Park's feature race is perfectly positioned in the autumn carnival - two weeks before the $3.5 million Golden Slipper, the world's richest race for two-year-olds.
There are just 12 acceptances for this year's Black Opal on Sunday, with five of those potentially running in Sydney on Saturday - where the Todman and Reisling stakes will attract a lot of the top two-year-olds.
But Clark was confident of getting a good field for Canberra's biggest race of the year. Especially quality wise.
Trapeze Artist (2017), Takedown (2015), Criterion (2013) and Epaulette (2012) have all gone on to win group 1 races after they saluted in the Black Opal.
It means the $300,000 group 3 race (1200 metres) has a proven track record of attracting some of the best two-year-olds in Australia.
Clark said while they reviewed their schedule every year he didn't think there was any need to change the Black Opal's timing.
"The quality that's come out of the Opal year-in, year-out justifies its placement on the calendar," he said.
"If you look at the last seven runnings of the Black Opal, four winners have gone on to win group 1 races and there's very few two-year-old races that can boast a pedigree like that.
"Numbers aren't everything. If you get high-quality runners, it leads to a high-quality race."
Clark also had confidence in the integrity of the TAB and racing's integrity.
Racing NSW
on Wednesday for failing to produce her mobile phone to stewards in relation to an investigation into betting activities.
Snow resigned from her role at the TAB on Wednesday morning, where she was a senior trading manager.
"Tabcorp take integrity very seriously, as does the racing industry, and she's resigned from her position so she's no longer with Tabcorp effective immediately," Clark said.
"I've got full faith in the stewards to go through their process and deal with that matter, and full faith in Tabcorp's integrity."
BLACK OPAL STAKES DAY
Sunday: Gates open 11.30am, with tickets available from Ticketek.
