When Queanbeyan legend Frank Cleary bought Catbird there was a Canberra Times article predicting it would become the first horse to win the Black Opal-Golden Slipper double and he feels it's just a matter of time before someone does it again - although he admits it's going to be "hard, very hard".
Catbird is still the only horse to win both two-year-old feature races, saluting in 1999, but Cleary felt Clan O'Sullivan was unlucky not to achieve the feat seven years earlier.
Since then only Decision Time in 2010 has come close.
But Cleary feels it's just a matter of time before there's a second name alongside his for the double - and he would love it to be a Canberra horse.
This year the Black Opal is just two weeks before the $3.5 million Slipper, making it a genuine last step before the world's richest race for two-year-olds.
It's also been restored to group 3 status for the first time since 2005.
"They've got the right gap now, it gives them a bit of a break," Cleary said.
"It'll happen again, but I'm still very proud that I'm still the only one that's ever done it.
"There two such hard races. You can get away with that Black Opal, but when they line up in that Golden Slipper they come from all the strong stables in Australia.
"It's hard, very hard ... but it will happen one day, without a doubt. Records are made to be broken."
Cleary felt the Godolphin horses - trained by John O'Shea and owned by the Sheikh of Dubai - would be hard to beat, but thought Nick Olive's Single Gaze was in with a chance.
"I wouldn't like to be going into it this year, there's some bloody good two-year-olds around," he said.
"I think whatever John O'Shea brings will be hard to beat, they've got such a strong string of two-year-olds.
"[Single Gaze] has got to be a good hope, it ran a good race in the Magic Millions, a terrific race, so it's certainly up to them.
"It'll be crucial where they all draw in the barriers."
Cleary cast his mind back to when he won in 1999, recalling an article in The Canberra Times predicting Catbird's historic feat.
He remembered the extra pressure leading up to the Slipper.
It seemed like all of Canberra and Queanbeyan were sending him good-luck messages.
While he loved the support, it also brought with it the weight of expectation that he could create history.
"When we first bought Catbird we aimed him at both those races and there was a story in The Canberra Times a month after we bought him that that was the road we were going to go on," Cleary said.
"Years later I read that article and I thought, 'Shit, that all turned out'."
The Black Opal field for Sunday took a hit with Gary Nickson deciding to run his promising two-year-old Voilier in the Todman Stakes at Randwick on Saturday instead.
Nickson felt the addition of blinkers, plus the small field of five, might help the son of Beneteau overturn his last-start defeat to Headwater.
O'Shea was looking to bring Antelucan and Chamarel to Canberra for the Opal, while Furnaces, Calaverite and Ottoman will stay in Sydney.
BLACK OPAL STAKES DAY
Sunday: Black Opal Stakes and Canberra Cup at Thoroughbred Park, gates open 11.30am
Tickets available from Ticketek.
